Fon is Fun Newsletters Sent

                                                                                                                                        2/22/07

Dear Faithful Fans of Fon is Fun,

    It has been two and a half years since my last newsletter but better late than never!---

Profits from sale of "Discovering are Benin" documentary helping the Beninese in  a big way

As you may already know I created a 5 episode documentary DVD on Benin that I filmed on our last trip to Benin (July 2004) called Discovering Benin.  I sent a copy of the movie to them and you can only imagine how much they loved seeing themselves on TV considering most of them don't even have regular access to a TV!  To see pictures of them watching it go here.  

Since I began selling the DVD two years ago I have been able to send the profits to Benin and that money has gone a very long way! I have sent the money to my neighbors who are very much in need of it. They are the same people who appeared in the video. 


                            The money has paid for:

  • Nestor Djossou's High School education at a private school which is much better than the overcrowded and under funded public schools.

  • School supplies for dozens of Beninese children.

  • Medical expenses of 33 people and 38 separate visits to the doctor.

  • Thirty mosquito nets which help prevent malaria.

  • Fifty sheets of corrugated metal to help my neighbors fix their roofs.

    For pictures and more more details go here   
    To buy the DVD or make a donation go here

    Thank you to those who have bought a DVD or have made a donation already!

 

Fon is Fun is Still Drawing More Users:

Fon is Fun turned six and has received 45,710 hits! During the six years it has received on average 7,618 hits per year, 635 hits per month, and 21 per day! Fon is Fun had the most hits ever with over 1097 hits in Feb 2006! Thanks for visiting and making Fon is Fun so successful.

On a personal note:
I haven't had a lot of time to make many changes to the site because teaching High School Spanish keeps me very busy. Cara and I just had a beautiful baby girl we named Orianna after Auriane, the cute little Beninese girl who I got a nice picture of when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer and who also appeared in the DVD. 

Orianna

Here's Auriane's picture in 1997:  

and again in 2004:

Ma yi bo wa (I go but will come back),

Chris

 


                                                                                                                                                           8/27/04

Dear Faithful Friends of Fon is Fun,                                          

            Cara and are back from Benin and we had an incredible time!  Already we can’t help but think about going back again someday.  We were there for the last two weeks of July, and since then I have spent a lot of time adding interesting new information to the website to share our trip with everyone:

Updates to the Website:

·        I have written an account of our trip called “Seven Years Later” where I explore what it’s like to go back to Benin after being away for seven years, ” how the country has changed, and how I changed.  I also discuss some of our adventures as well as what is involved in planning a trip to Benin. 

·         I have added many pictures from our trip that you can find at:  Photos. 

·        When we were there, we exported several local Beninese dogs known as Basenjis here in the US for a friend of mine.  He was very happy with them and says that they are really great specimens of Basenjis.  Cara and I will get one of their offspring in a few years when we will be ready for a dog.  You can see their pictures at: Basenjis. 

·        I have also added a lot of detailed information about planning a trip to Benin for those who are considering going yourselves.  Going to Benin was easy the first time I went because Peace Corps took care of all the planning.  This time it was a lot of work and money because not only did we have to get plane tickets, but we had to get anti-malarial medicine, a visa, travel insurance and a slew of vaccinations.  Going to Benin is not as easy as going to the Bahamas!  See:  Plan a Trip to Benin

News: 

·        I had an interview with a Basenji publication called “Basenji Companion” that will be published at the end of Sept.   When it comes out, I’ll put the link on the website and notify you. 

·        I wrote an article for “Basenji Magazine,” about what was involved in finding the dogs and exporting them to the U.S.  I don’t think they have a website so I’ll put it on Fon is Fun after it runs in September. 

·        When we were in Benin we took about 4 hours of video when we were there, and I’m currently editing it into my own mini-series documentary that I’m producing at my town’s local access TV station.  Unless you live in a 5-mile radius from me, you won’t be able to see it on TV (unless that is PBS or Ken Burns hears about it and likes it :>).  I may make it available for people to purchase if it turns out good and there is interest so let me know if you are interested.  It will be 3 hours, 5 episodes and will cover many aspects of Benin.

  • I was flattered that a movie producer in Namibia purchased one of my photographs to use on the set of his movie.  The movie is called “The Trail” which is supposed to be released late next year.  Their site is not currently working, but I assume it will be soon so check back later. He explained that

 “I will be needing the pics to dress the interior of our lead character's house. In some of the pics I will need to photoshop our lead into the scene. Our director will decide which images are suitable for this purpose. The lead character is a geologist that has travelled Africa extensively and spent time with various tribes. The main character had traveled extensively in Africa, and they wanted a photograph to put in his house to demonstrate that.” 

The photograph he selected was this one: Fish Market on the Beach

  • Antonio Alcorn runs a web hosting company and was very generous in offering me web space on his server.  Due to his generosity I will be moving Fon is fun to www.fon-is-fun.org as soon as I figure out how to get Yahoo to redirect people to the new site from all the pages in the current web.
  • When I was in Benin I was flattered that most volunteers that I spoke to said that they know of Fon is Fun and consulted it before leaving for Benin.  Many of their family and friends do too so they can get a better idea of what their loved ones are experiencing.  In fact the site is gaining in popularity as the number of hits prove.  They have been slowly but surely rising to a monthly average of 650 hits!  Today the site has had about 20,500 hits in its two and a half years!  See: Page Views Report
  • The list of Fon is Fun newsletter subscribers is up to 39 now.  
  • I’m getting ready to go back to school.  I teach Spanish to high school students in the Bronx, and I go to school at night to finish my Master’s degree so you may not hear much from me until Christmas :>( . 

That’s all for now.  Enjoy the additions to Fon is Fun and I’d love to hear from you.

Edabo,

Chris

                                                                                                                                            3/3/04

Hello All,
   No new updates to Fon is Fun lately because I'm very busy with work and graduate school.  Some good news is that Benin's Golfe FM has finally put their online broadcasing online so you can listen to Beninese radio in Fon, French, and Yoruba depending on the time of day.   The link is:  http://www.eit.bj/golfefm.htm
     Other news is Cara and I heading to Benin this July.  I'm sure it will be a very emotional experience for me since I haven't been back since I left 7 years ago.  I'll be sure to write about the trip and include details in a newsletter when we get back.

Edabo,

Chris

                                                                                                                          1/15/03

Dear Faithful Fans of Fon is Fun-

            You may not remember but you signed up for this e-mail list where I update you of the goings on with the Fon is Fun website dedicated to Benin and having lots of Fon.  To date you are one of 29 recipients of a lifetime free membership!  Part of the deal is that I punish you with not only alliteration but bad puns too. J  Don’t worry you probably haven’t missed any updates because I’ve only sent one or two last year.  I thought I’d give you a New Year’s update of what’s going on here at Headquarters (i.e. my desk). 

 Two weeks from now will be Fon is Fun’s second anniversary and we’ve had over 10,000 since hits since its beginning!  I’m happy to say that Fon is Fun now has links to it from all over the internet and it is featured on many search engines so there has been a constant stream of visitors.  (About 430 per month on average) 

I’ve been pleased with all the interesting guest book entries.  I find it interesting that some people signing it are Beninese people in France who are using my site to learn their own language because they are second generation or left Benin when they were young!  To date there are 120 guest book entries.  I have received numerous e-mails from Fon is Fun visitors.  Some are practitioners of Candomble (the Brazilian version of Vodun that originated in Benin).  Some are people who sponsor children in Benin, missionaries, Peace Corps Volunteers to be, friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteers, Angelique Kidjo fans, people who have Beninese friends, and Beninese people themselves.   I have created a new page that summarizes where visitors who have signed the guest book are from and what their interest in Benin is.  See Guest Book Stats ( http://www.geocities.com/fon_is_fun/gb_stats.htm ).

 I was very pleased that a reporter from Afrik.com (a professional African Web media site based in Paris) did a flattering review of my site.  It’s in French and is at http://www.afrik.com/porte/naviporte/benin.htm.  (When you get there scroll down a little and you’ll find it)

 I haven’t had time to update the site lately but the forum, guest book, and links pages have had activity since then.  The reason I haven’t had much time is because I’ve been up to my eyeballs surviving a radical career change since last June.  In a way Fon is Fun was a harbinger of my career change, but I didn’t realize it at the time.  When I quit my last job my boss said to me, “I had a feeling that you weren’t going to be happy doing this job when I saw your website.” ....  So I quit my boring desk job to teach Spanish to 7th graders in an under performing, poor middle school in the South Bronx, NY through the New York Teaching Fellows Program.  It has been extremely intense as I only had a 6-week crash course in teaching before I was thrown in front of 125 rowdy 13 year olds whose hormones are raging and their energy is near melt down levels.  I am also studying for my master’s degree in teaching a foreign language, which will help me make some improvements to Fon is Fun eventually (when I get the time- maybe in the summer).   I hope to become a French teacher in addition to a Spanish teacher once I finish my master's degree in Spanish.  One interesting thing that I found is that I’m starting to forget my Fon and I’m even using the site to refresh my memory!  It is not only helping others but me too! 

 I have plans to try to get a book published of short stories and essays I’ve written about Benin. (another summer project).  Some of those stories are on Fon is Fun. I still would like to finish translating my site to French and start translating it to Spanish too not to mention that I would like to write about my several initiations into Vodun cults when I was there. 

 I would like to thank again Emmanuel Akognon's generosity in making Fon is Fun advertising free and keeping Geocities from shutting the site down due to over-use.  For more details see:  http://www.geocities.com/fon_is_fun/data-transfer.htm .

 My neighbors and dog Wafi from Benin are doing well from what I read just a few months ago.  I still write them and send the kids toys as well as some money once a year to buy school supplies.  I suppose life is going on as always and not much has changed except all the kids are getting big.  I’m afraid that I won’t recognize them when I go back to visit.  Take care and please come back to Fon is Fun www.geocities.com/Fon_is_fun for a visit let one of the poorest countries in the world enrich you. 

 Edabo,

 Chris