Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after 30 years of civil war. In many ways, it is an unusual country for the part of the world it is in. They refuse tied foreign aid. They do not ask for bribes. If a beggar will not take no for an answer, other Eritreans will intervene as a matter of national pride.

But it is a place of few opportunities. People go to Sudan (!) as a stepping stone to a better future.

In the past, men who could find a foreign opportunity would take their families with them. Nowadays, they often leave them in Eritrea and only come back for a couple of months a year.

A local man explained this to me: "We have learnt from experience that if we take our wives to the West, they will, sooner or later, become like western women and start treating their husbands like dogs. Now we prefer to keep them here."