LOOKBOOK

STORIES WE CHERISH TAXI BROUSSE PRINT, COLLECTION 04, 2021

When a story is based on an experience, it helps to shape a life. And in Africa, a story is often formed through invention following necessity.

Volunteering at a children’s home in Madagascar, a routine trip to pick up the children from school became an emergency when the spacious 4×4 we’d use broke down. Too far to walk, a Renault 4 was the only other vehicle we had! But – necessity and invention – we all squeezed in. All the children and four adults, we even had a gorgeous young baby we had earlier collected from the police station.

It was not the most comfortable journey, and certainly not the quietest, but it was ideal preparation for the taxi brousse that ferried me around the island as my trip continued. Part bus, part taxi, this put our Renault 4 to shame. Add to the adults, children and babies ducks and chickens weaving around our legs as we contorted to find an ounce of comfort. Oh, and let’s not forget the goats on the roof.

But that’s Africa. Nothing is impossible. Necessity fuels the resourcefulness in the mother continent of invention.