After my stay at Hand in Hand, I travelled north to Tamale, spending 5 hours on the bus with another person I had just met the same day, a Dutch student called Marlou. She had been working in a village just outside Kumasi, and was taking a break for a couple weeks to travel around the country. We met up with Lars and Wendy who had travelled north the day before, and all 3 joined me to visit Daboya the next day. We woke up to catch the only bus that travels the bumpy road down the 60km that took more than 2hrs to drive. Upon arrival, we were dropped on the banks of the White Volta, where we had to proceed by canoe (above) to the village itself.
Throughout our guided tour (with Musa, who is part of the Eco-Tourism scheme set up in Daboya) we were followed by a group of grinning, but slightly intimidated, young children...all wanting to be photographed.
The "Chief's Shop" - where fabric gets sewn together into Smocks. Musa, on the far right, with his buddies from school who all work in the textile trade.
Musa showing off a "Guniea Fowl" patterned smock - the bottom half balloons out so that it can be swirled around as pictured below:
Young boys at their weaving stations
The indigo dying pits - a bunch of yarn being "aired" so that the oxygen in the air can activate the desired colour.
When it first emerges, the yarn is more of a turquoise colour, almost green...and has to be dyed multiple times to achieve the dark blue colour used to weave.
This is a fantastic photo of the dyer shaking out any leaves from the dye bath that have gotten stuck inside the yarn during the dying process
everything around the pits turn indigo, its a lovely sight since the colour is so rich
Even this man's hands, shoes and trousers are stained with the pigment
Having a go myself - much to the amusement of the locals!
My favourite photograph so far - two men relaxing and sewing next to the indigo-painted mosque
Close-up of the hand stitching on the old man's smock
Having a go at weaving too - the little boys either side of me were going lightening fast just to show that they were more skilled than the Obruni (local name for white person)
Fisherman mending his net in the shade - with a house being painted in the background
We caught wind of the fact that a fresh batch of fish had come in - so we went down to the river to take a look
A fisherman in his canoe, showing us his live bait
The salt beach where salt comes to the surface and is collected in the dry season - now it is flooded due to heavy rainfall.
My hands still stained with indigo
Musa showing off a hand-man smock he has woven and stitched himself:
After my stay at Hand in Hand, I travelled north to Tamale, spending 5 hours on the bus with another person I had just met the same day, a Dutch student called Marlou. She had been working in a village just outside Kumasi, and was taking a break for a couple weeks to travel around the country. We met up with Lars and Wendy who had travelled north the day before, and all 3 joined me to visit Daboya the next day. We woke up to catch the only bus that travels the bumpy road down the 60km that took more than 2hrs to drive. Upon arrival, we were dropped on the banks of the White Volta, where we had to proceed by canoe (above) to the village itself.
Throughout our guided tour (with Musa, who is part of the Eco-Tourism scheme set up in Daboya) we were followed by a group of grinning, but slightly intimidated, young children...all wanting to be photographed.
The "Chief's Shop" - where fabric gets sewn together into Smocks. Musa, on the far right, with his buddies from school who all work in the textile trade.
Musa showing off a "Guniea Fowl" patterned smock - the bottom half balloons out so that it can be swirled around as pictured below:
Young boys at their weaving stations
The indigo dying pits - a bunch of yarn being "aired" so that the oxygen in the air can activate the desired colour.
When it first emerges, the yarn is more of a turquoise colour, almost green...and has to be dyed multiple times to achieve the dark blue colour used to weave.
This is a fantastic photo of the dyer shaking out any leaves from the dye bath that have gotten stuck inside the yarn during the dying process
everything around the pits turn indigo, its a lovely sight since the colour is so rich
Even this man's hands, shoes and trousers are stained with the pigment
Having a go myself - much to the amusement of the locals!
My favourite photograph so far - two men relaxing and sewing next to the indigo-painted mosque
Close-up of the hand stitching on the old man's smock
Having a go at weaving too - the little boys either side of me were going lightening fast just to show that they were more skilled than the Obruni (local name for white person)
Fisherman mending his net in the shade - with a house being painted in the background
We caught wind of the fact that a fresh batch of fish had come in - so we went down to the river to take a look
A fisherman in his canoe, showing us his live bait
The salt beach where salt comes to the surface and is collected in the dry season - now it is flooded due to heavy rainfall.
My hands still stained with indigo
Musa showing off a hand-man smock he has woven and stitched himself:
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