Madagascar, too, does not escape prostitution and its market, which even involves girls as young as twelve or thirteen. But what often happens on this island surrounded by the Indian Ocean with white beaches and the crystal-clear sea goes a little beyond the casual relationship.
Here, in fact, with the tacit approval of the local society, what could be described as – to put it mildly – an engagement of interest has taken hold. This is the story of the makorelle: this is what prostitutes are called in Nosy Be. Even though the word “prostitute” does not exist on this island.
The girls, of different ages, live in modest thatched huts. Money is never enough to afford a more decent home or to be able to support one’s extended family. Makorelle has more than one lover, often without the knowledge of their white ‘boyfriend’.
Fatima tells me a trick not to get caught. He uses small boxes to store the jewellery, each marked with the name of the lover so that he does not get confused when he has to wear it.
Mary confides: she has a son, fathered by a Swiss man. And still today it hopes, as promised, to be taken to Europe.
Young men also offer themselves to white women. They are the Jobils, young men who are often engaged with local women who agree to problems. Stories of real sexual freedom.
