In the mid-twentieth century, to escape poverty and famine in their country, thousands of Cape Verdeans were forced to leave their land to serve as labor in the plantations of Sao Tome.
Cape Verde and Sao Tome, islets in the Atlantic, one opposite Senegal, the other in the Gulf of Guinea, are two former Portuguese colonies. During the 20th century, droughts, famines and the lack of aid from the Portuguese authorities plunged the Cape Verdean population into poverty. To escape this situation, many agree to embark on the plantations of Sao Tome. But many of them who remained too poor were never able to return to their homes.
Today the few survivors and their descendants still live in very difficult conditions.
Seven photos of Adrien Marotte illustrate this AFP report.