BTS Humba Campaign
The BTS of the Humba campaign, Shot down the West Coast of Sumba Island
Featuring the small Akoia team, Inka Williams, My Mum, Gina Palmer & my self Reo Palmer.
6 days spent, between the white sandy long beaches and discovering water oasis's where we shot the collection. We shared so many laughs, we taught kids English, and went on big adventures. See a few captures of our daily life in Sumba.
The beaches of the island were filled with buffalos. During the morning sun the farmer brings his dozen of buffalos to the ocean edge, to wash them, walk them down the river to feed and bathe. It is refreshing to see farmers so connected to their animals.
Inka found a mamma crab washed up on shore. So much raw marine life by the sea on this island.
The endless white sand & coconut tree beaches.
These little boys would see us from miles away on the beach and ask us if we wanted to buy a fresh coconut for 10,000 which is only 1$. They would find the highest coconut tree and climb coco trees as tall as 20 mtrs , then coming down with a bunch of fresh coconuts. So impressed with these local kids, how talented!
Education is very limited in Sumba, so we got the chance to teach the little kids English. These kids taught us how remote life is in these villages. They would walk miles every early morning to collect water for their homes.
We asked the kids, what would you like as presents from us when we return next year? They said "we would just love to learn from you again". It really goes to show, these kids really value education rather then material things.
This is one of the Traditional villages. The houses are designed like this, and they are famous to Sumba. The theory is, they have 3 layers of living, one for animal at the bottom, one for human in the middle and one for the spirit at the top.
At these villages, women would spend their days weaving natural yarns into their traditional wear. Using natural dyes and natural materials. Weaving ikat is a tradition that has been passed down from generations. We learnt a lot from these empowering women.
We found an oasis, Sumba has very dry land. While our adventure through the tropical desert like land, we came across this.
The sunrise wake up picking seaweed to then cook for our lunch. They mums of the villages taught us how to pick the correct seaweed and how to turn it into the yummiest meal.
This was Pak Musa, he was the head of the village and owned a few bamboo bungalows on the beach where we stayed. What a legend!
With Sumba so close to our hearts, and creating such deep connections to the people, we teamed up with the Sumba foundation, to donate proceeds from this collection directly to support Families in Sumba with health, education and water.
Thank you so much, Sumba, for your beauty, and hospitably.
Thank you to all the people involved in the processes of this collection.
Love,
Reo & Inka, and Gina.
