|
What People are saying about "Discovering Benin" --
"I reviewed your latest DVDs. They are a continuation of your
humanitarian efforts for the Republic of Benin. It goes without
saying that you did a very good job. I recommend that people buy these
DVD's, after all the proceeds go back to the people in the footage.
Even though I was born in Benin, I feel like a visitor watching them. I
think every African American in search of realities of the past should
visit those places. Bravo Chris!" --
"We got the Benin DVD and loved it. We watched the first three
episodes last night. Great celebration and dance
footage. Wonderful overview of businesses and a nice look at
the market. Funny study of various toilets and Kaleta's music was
very good too. Watching it made me feel like I was back in Benin,
and it made me miss Benin. It was beautifully done and so
real. Thank you very much for putting this together and making it
available to us all." --
"Just wanted to let you know I received the Benin DVD's yesterday --
and although I had lots of "other stuff" to do last night - I couldn't
stop watching and stayed up 'til midnight to see all five
episodes! What a a wonderful documentary about these beautiful
people and their culture. Of course, I loved seeing the Benin
Basenji babies, and the other small glimpses of village dogs scattered
throughout - but I really also enjoyed the "low key" commentary you
provided, with such a personal perspective. Your admiration and
respect for the people of Benin came through loud and clear, as did
their mutual feelings for you. I can't wait to show parts of the
video to my son (who's almost 13). His 7th grade class just
finished a unit on slavery -- and those last scenes of the video ("The
Point of No Return") are so poignant... I really enjoyed the
music on the DVD's also. I will be ordering two more copies
. Congratulations on this labor of love - and thank you for
sharing it, too!" --
"You did a really wonderful job with the DVD's. I was impressed by
how realistic everything was. I already told a number of my
friends and they are coming over to watch. I have a couple of
friends that could use parts of it in classes. You really did a
nice job!" -- "By far the most intimate look into the Beninese culture I've seen" |
estor
Djossou is a hard working young man who is very sincere, thoughtful,
and intelligent. I got to know him well when I was in the Peace
Corps and I'm happy to say that I'm still in touch with
him. He is currently attending Aimé Césaire
private school in Allada and is studying accounting as a
concentration. Unbelievably the cost is only around $500 for the
entire year including tuition, books, fees, and supplies. The
public school is extremely overcrowded to the point where students who
don't get there early have to stand at the doors and windows because
there isn't even enough room to stand in the classroom. Almost no
students have enough money to pay their school fees and buy books, so
the teacher must write everything on the board and the students must
diligently copy it all down. Nestor said that some classes have
as many as 50 students in them. This year and in previous years
the school year has started in December due to teacher strikes.
In
the neighborhood where I lived as a Peace Corps Volunteer, there were
at least 40 neighbors. I became very close to them and they are
extremely poor. You can see how poor they are as I tour through
their housing compound and go inside one of their huts in episode
2. They are the one who threw the great party for us in episode
1. Because they have so little money they cannot afford routine
medical care. When they fall sick they often rely only on
traditional leaf infusions to heal themselves. The only time they
try to scrape up money to go to the hospital is when they are gravely
ill. I have set up a small fund for when the people are sick and
need to go to the hospital. Already this fund has helped two
people get the care they needed.
home | about earthcds | recordings | photo galleries | charities | links | contact us
earthcds • PO Box 56 • Makanda, Illinois 62958 • 618-351-6588
