The indigo mixture can then be kept in a large oil barrel like this for five years or more!
My week with Anita and Hilton Whittle in the more developed and touristy area near the capital city of Banjul was a welcome relief from the discomforts of African life and I have been amazed by the kindness and generosity that they have shown to me and all of the less fortunate Gambian around them.
As the friends of natural dyers/batik artists Isabella Whitworth and Jenny Balfour-Paul whom I met in the UK, Anita is also a skilled and knowledgeable textile artist who is helping me tremendously in my research here. Her research into the kola nut dye has been the most interesting of all and it has been incredible to learn all about this rare dye that is only used these parts of West Africa. The brilliant orange hues it creates and lack of heat makes it perfect for the batik medium and I can’t wait to explore it further!
Once I stepped off my high horse, I came to see just how much I could learn from the batik artists here in Gambia.
I learned:
How to build a fire and maintain a consistent temperature. The day I accomplished this with a single matchstick was one of the proudest days of my life and I felt as if I had just graduated from “life skills 101.”
How to dye fabric with as little water as possible - one jug maximum. When I think now of how much water I “wasted” in Indonesia and Japan, I almost feel faint!
Look for and gather natural beeswax from the wild.
Accept the many cracks that result from using cheap candlewax.
Recycle old wax from batiks to be used again.
Use African tjanting tools made of stick and wire and even how to make my own. I was actually amazed by how well they held the wax without all of the annoying drips of Indonesian tjantings.
Use wax crayons to draw my design first.
Make two batiks at once by folding the fabric in half first. More batiks, more money!
How to use tie-dye as a quick alternative to wax resist.
How to use the chemical Indanthren dyes from Germany which uses sodium hydrosulphite and caustic soda.
Basically, I learned how to make as many batiks with as little time an materials as possible. Most artists don’t see even try to make their designs unique but rather rely on a set of “patterns or templates” which they reuse over and over again. Unlike the UK, most artists here are men since most women are simply too busy in the field or taking care of their many children. Women do often help with the tie-dye however which is much easier and faster.
Most interesting of all are the “African wax print” batiks which are ubiquitous here. I wonder how many people know that they actually come straight from England and are a statement to the effects of colonialism. It is hard to imagine what Africa looked like before the arrival of these colorful and bright textiles.
More than anything, I have learned what it means to eat from the Earth and the hard work that comes with it. 
OMG, I can’t believe it!!! Internet, electricity, toilet paper, RUNNING WATER – it is too good to be true!!!There is nothing like spending three weeks in Middleofnowhere, The Gambia to really make a person appreciate the simple things in life and I hope I will never take them for granted again.
Until now I have been living and studying with batik artist Buba Drammeh in his “compound” - a rectangular structure around a center courtyard which the entire extended family shares. Here, there is no electricity for miles and water must be carried in jugs from the single solar-powered water tower in the village. Just the act of survival is difficult in such conditions and one can only imagine what it is like to make batiks with such limited resources.
Most professions in West Africa are a family affair and the art of batik and tie-dye is no exception. Buba learned his craft from his uncle who learned from his father and so on down the generations. As Buba’s student, I quickly became incorporated into the family and was christened “Bingta Drammeh” to match my new Gambian identity.
Buba, his wife and five children generously made room for me inside their tiny section of the compound which consisted of a room with a table and some chairs, a back room with just enough space for a bed and an exterior bathroom area. Honestly, the entire place was probably smaller then some people’s closets in the Unites States.
Most specifically, I am hoping to find a way to complete this unfinished cold storage that has been deserted by a German based NGO. Over 550 villagers (mostly women) labor in the garden daily with the knowledge that at least 60% of the vegetables they grow will rot under the hot sun. (If you knew how hard these women work and how little they throw away, you would understand what a tragedy this is). This cold storage would allow them to save the fruit of their labor so that they would not only have food year-round but also be able to market the excess as source of income. With this financial stability would come better education, health care and overall quality of life.
This "medical center" would finally get the funding it needs to run, and teachers could be paid to in the schools. Somehow, I am determined to find the solar panels and refrigeration units which will get this thing running. Wish me luck!
What a wonderful prelude to my upcoming West Africa adventure. Thanks Renate! 
They are helping me make arrangements for my upcoming visit to The Gambia and I can't thank them enough.
