Little did Nancy Jones suspect what lay ahead for her when she thought that pasteurising milk in Mauritania would be a good idea. Her dream dairy just had to overcome a few minor hurdles: there were no cows in the desert, only restless camels; Mauritanians loved raw milk but regarded local industry with mistrust; there was no trained manpower; the technical environment was almost nonexistent; importers ruled the market - and she was a woman. Nancy Abeiderrahmane, as she became, wandered into a twenty-year-long adventure that would earn her a Rolex Award and a few medals, and more importantly offer her a unique experience of the pitfalls and transformations that lie on the rocky road to Development.