Rachel Pieh Jones's Archive

Light Upon Light

By / December 2013

Rachel Pieh Jones journeys to the top of a Djibouti City lighthouse: “Now that Djibouti has regular, reliable electricity, the lighthouse is harder to pinpoint. It is now as symbolic, in a sense as spiritual, as it is practical.”

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The Audacity of Nairobi

By / October 2013

Rachel Pieh Jones reflects on Nairobi, before and after the attack: “The friends I stayed with in Nairobi hosted a barbecue and their six-year old daughter had a suggestion: ‘Wouldna��t it be fun to check under the cars of our friends?'”

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Stomping Grounds: Djibouti City

By / October 2013

Marwo and Mohammed opened the M and M CafA� in 2012 across from Djiboutia��s old train station. I was sipping watermelon juice here when I learned that the US government had shut down.

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A Harvest of Salt

By / September 2013

Powdery dirt covered the salt flats, rose in circular poofs around our ankles, and left streaks, like dried mustard, on our skin. But the earth was deceptive.

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Djiboutia��s White Gold

By / July 2013

Lac Assal, nicknamed Hell, is the lowest point in Africa. It is also the world’s largest salt reserve. Rachel Pieh Jones sends this dispatch.

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The Hard Work of Unemployment

By / April 2013

Women cooking over open fires in front of huts, men cutting hair with razor blades, children sorting trash. These are the faces of Djibouti’s jobless.

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