Abdel

Abdel is a Muslim friend from Northern Benin who refuses to open a restaurant with another friend if he has to serve alcohol. He does not want to serve alcohol, drink it or be involved in anything related to beers and whiskies. However he knows opening a restaurant could be a good business in Northern Nattitangou. Adbel lives in conflict. He did not finish school. Abdel’s little brother helps him reading the emails he occasionally receives from a Belgium girl who volunteered in Nattitangou some years back. He would like to learn how to read and write and spare himself the embarrassment of dictating emails to his brother.

He told me that he knows "why blacks are still black"!: they know what they should be doing but they just don’t do it. His reasoning shocked me but at the same time I admire Adbel for taking own responsibility for the highs and lows of his life.