Meet the guys behind the informative, engaging and unapologetically Bajan videos.
“So inappropriate.”
That’s how Jehroum Wood and Marcus Myers often describe themselves.
But they have been praised by thousands of social media users as not only extremely appropriate, but also exactly what is needed to prick the conscience of Barbadians.
True to their video style, their interview with Loop was filled with Bajanisms, lots of laughs, fun and some interesting food for thought.
The 24-year-old former Combermere classmates, who describe themselves as “two fellas who like to talk foolishness”, have popped up recently on social media making a lot of sense with their ‘edu-taintment’ videos about water conservation, sustainability, waste management and other environmental issues.
You’ve probably seen the video in which Jehroum implores Bajans to “Stop Eating Chubs”, as he hilariously explains why these parrotfish are so important to our environment, way of life and economy. Explaining that chubs actually produce sand via egestion, Jehroum broke it all the way down:
“Parrotfish are really important for our tourism industry because each and every year, thousands of tourists come here… just to play up in parrotfish jobby.”
The video spread far and wide in no time, racking up over 1,700 shares and 104,000 views – definitely hilarious, but also unquestionably educational.
It was not the first video for Wood, an environmental researcher by profession – and it certainly won’t be the last. But the interest shown in the parrotfish video has inspired him and Marcus to start the Facebook page ‘Research and Some Sense’ where they will share previously recorded videos and new productions – all with the aim of creating an online space where Barbadians can learn more about their country in a fun and accessible way.
With Jehroum’s background and Marcus’ experience in performing arts and creative productions, their growing following will be happy to know that the guys plan to “keep the videos flowing steadily – unlike Bajan pipes,” quipped Jehroum, in reference to their video on water woes.
They also intend to eventually broaden the scope of their subject matter to other topics beyond the environment.
Marcus explained:
“There seems to be a gap in Barbadian information, where Barbadians don’t know about their own culture but they know so much about other cultures, whether it’s because of television or other forms of media, so we said, ‘Why don’t we give people what they need to know about their current environment?’”
Jehroum said, “I want to see a space where people can go get valuable, quality information and not be burdened by boring, heavy data.
He added, “I know so many random facts about the US from Buzzfeed like where their second President went to use the toilet – I don’t need to know it, but I know it. But when it comes to Barbados, if I want to find out any interesting facts, I either have to go to school and learn or go down by the Archives or hear it in a rum shop.”
And based on the feedback on social media so far, it’s not just a Barbadian problem. The guys have received comments, queries and suggestions from around the Caribbean, opening their eyes to the fact that people around the region are thirsty for this kind of knowledge.
“It started a conversation,” summed up Marcus. “It’s good to see that people want to know more about the facts.”
“That’s what really made me happy to see that things that I’ve been speaking about for so long, professionally and personally, and no one seems to give a damn… people are responding when you put it on social media,” said Jehroum.
He added:
“I think it’s really bad that we’ve spent this amount of money on education and then the knowledge is kept in silos and the people that really need to use it, don’t have the information at their disposal. So we need to get that information in a space and in a format that people can use.”
Check out Jehroum and Marcus on Facebook at Research and Some Sense.
Source: http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com