Tananarive, on a sunny afternoon in 1971. Equipped with malaria tablets, a mosquito net, a package of books on development aid, and a yearly contract as an economic expert for an international organization, a young economist from Germany arrives. Everything is different from what he had imagined. He immerses himself in the complex world of development aid and simultaneously encounters an enchanting ancient culture and interesting people. The years he spends within a randomly assembled group of Malagasy officials and European advisors present him with significant challenges and leave a lasting impact on him. The reader gets to know a country where the questions of the 20th century coexist with others that were already answered in our age of Enlightenment. Which of the solutions found in Europe applies here?.