26 mins, 2007        [password required] This highly visual documentary traces the fantastic journey of Africa's most popular shoes - the flip-flop - from manufacture in Mombasa Kenya to ultimate recycling and resale as toys and mobiles. In the process it colourfully illustrates a striking form of sustainable development and its impact on the environment and economy of a developing world country. The story begins when the flip-flops are made in a factory in Mombasa, Kenya. Worn-out, they are taken to cobblers who specialise in flip-flop maintenance. But some are too damaged to be repaired and end up as litter on the streets, where monsoon rains wash them with the island's rubbish to the ocean. Sea borne for years, their buoyancy and resilience are put to good use by ocean hitch-hikers. Colonised by goose-barnacles and boarded by swimming crabs, they eventually come to rest on distant coastlines. Here they bring specks of vibrant colour to washed-up debris. Here islanders carve the flip-flops into dolphins, turtles and mobiles - a cottage industry which provides precious income for many families. Their children craft model boats from the rubber soles, making their own toys from the ocean's debris. Newly transformed, the flip-flops begin yet another journey. Leaving the quiet shores of Kiwayu, they are transported back to the shop-lined shores of Mombasa, where their first journey began. Particularly suitable for students at Key Stage 3 (13-14 years old).

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