June 2014. The Ibis Hotel in Lomé, the capital of Togo in West-Africa. Nice views over the Atlantic with ships waiting on the horizon to get access to the harbour, below my balcony is the Hotel garden with the palmtrees and the swimming pool.
I was there for a series of trainings, for local Banks. During the weekend I had time to explore the beach, and an old pier. People warned me: I could get robbed very easily. It was safer to go back and stay at the Hotel grounds.
From my balcony I saw them in the garden. I took my camera, ran down the stairs, across the lobby, and found them, still strolling under the green pergola. I asked if I could take a picture and that was the beginning of a sort of ‘friendship’. They asked if I could take more photos, and started to pose in sometimes funny positions.
They were sisters teaching at a Hotel School, and invited me to come over the next day and make more photos. I said I would come if I could make more photos, and they agreed, if I was willing to share them. Of course I said yes!
In the school, it seemed I stepped into a Lost World. No computers, no smartscreens, students paying attention… it was magical.
Then, the sisters showed me their home. According to one sister the cupboard was the most precious thing they had in their home.
They took me to the vegetable garden, and posed for me on a motorcycle. Then I had to leave, back into the 21st century…
