Mauritania on Vice

  • VICE on HBO Extended

    The Fat Farms of Mauritania

    In Mauritania, a country crippled by food shortages, obesity is viewed as a sign of wealth and prestige in a woman. To attain Mauritanian standards of beauty, many women undergo the practice of 'gavage,' or "fattening up." While traditionally the practice of fattening includes chugging camel's milk in a nomadic camp under a sweltering sun in the Sahara Desert, for a modern-day Mauritanian woman, appetite-inducing pills are the new way to pack on the pounds. Full story

    2013 May 17 Thomas Morton News
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  • Music World

    The Only Record Store in Mauritania

    While filming in Africa we passed through Nouakchott, Mauritania, and decided to stop in the country's only record store, Saphir D'or. Turns out, it rules! We chatted with Ahmede Valle, shop proprietor and seasoned DJ, about record collecting and the unifying powers of music. Full story

    2013 Jan 18 Thomas Morton Music
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