DJIBUTI

"(…) In June, when temperatures drop from unbearable to tolerable, the roads in the town center begin to resemble a stage set. Palm trees stand out against the starry night sky. Under the dark arcades, colonial facades light up, and one after the other, red, purple or orange lights flash from the unbroken succession of bars. You’d think that all the armies of the world had named Djibouti as their meeting place.

(…) The nighttime girls are all foreigners to Djibouti. They live in groups, sharing rooms or small apartments. Property owners take advantage of their illegal presence in the country, and their equally illegal activities, to demand exorbitant rents from them."

Extract from Zoé Zoé, Femmes du mondes, 2007, Éditions Gallimard