Its been a week ago that I visited Africa for the first time of my life. It was one of my greatest wishes to take the catwalk to Africa and I’m proud of telling you that The Gambia & Senegal are now part of it. The Gambia is a little country in Africa, surrounded by Senegal, but however it’s small it is a great country to visit. Very friendly and beautiful people, good food and great temperature!
Proud
The way people walk, the way they look and the way they talk made an big impression on me. Although they have not much, their posture and face is full of proud and their smile is more worth than a golden necklace. You know what’s funny? A friend of mine is pregnant at this moment and is reading books about the way the baby grows, what kind of phases a child is going through after birth, etcetera. Suddenly it hit’s me that people in The Gambia don’t read books about life, they live life! They just do it.
Colorful market, a real life catwalk
My visit to the market in the main capital Banjul made me smile all the time. The colors of their clothes and merchandise, the funny smell of their food and sweat, the noise… In some way it reminded me of the market in Antigua, Guatemala; the market I visited lots of times. So there in Africa it felt like coming home. I felt a joy deep within me seeing, hearing and smelling all those things. It’s like butterflies in your tummy. It’s like wanting to hug everyone and telling them they’re beautiful. Well, the last thing actually, I did. I did tell some women how beautiful they are. You should see the look in their face! Joy and happiness. Willing to give a hug. To give a smile. To pose for a picture.
Dust, bare feet & a smile
At the border crossing to Senegal I jumped out of the bus. I wanted to be in the middle of the citizens. Immediately little boys were coming to me, bare feet, asking for money and sweets. I told them I hadn’t any but that I was interested talking to them. First I saw disappointment but soon that made place for curiosity. Official language in The Gambia is English but lot’s of tribes have their own language. And when children of those tribes don’t go to school they can’t talk English. But one of the boys could talk English so I started asking questions such as their names, ages, how they live. More boys joined the group, their black faces covered with dust. And they asked me the same questions back. A disabled big boy with a distorted face who could hardly talk came up to me and asked for money. I asked the boys who I was talking with if he is their friend. They answered: no, but we know him.
When I got back into the bus I saw a kid playing with the rim of bicycle, bare feet, dust on his face, holes in his clothes. But with a smile…
Catwalks behind the scenes
The idea of a behind the scenes movie of catwalks around the world existed longer already. But after visiting a big group of children in Kanuma, Gambia, I knew I have to create one.
Before the children gave us a show of singing and dancing the tour guide told them about my project so I laid down the red carpet. After walking the red carpet I invited the kids to do the same thing. At first they doubted (only the president walks on a red carpet), but once a couple of kids just did it, almost everyone followed!
Afterwards I started taking pictures of them. Close-up. They were só curious about the result. And I felt só exciting doing it. Being so close to them, getting them out of their shell, showing them and tell them how beautiful they are, making them smile. When I think back of that moment I smile again.
Some of the picture can be seen in the following movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcJJ9N9ID7A
No20
With The Gambia and Senegal I reached my goal of doing the catwalk in 20 countries! Strange feeling that that journey has come to an end…
Now I will go editing the movie so I can show you the result!
Perhaps a part2 will follow in the future…..
One thing is for sure, if that happens, Africa will be part of it again!
