Due to the high rate of unemployment in Africa today, the majority of its youth — especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa — engage in dangerous ventures in order to get something to feed themselves and their families. As some choose to embark on the dangerous journey through the Sahara and across the Mediterranean in small overcrowded boats in order to reach Europe, those who stay behind have resorted to mining for a precious metal… gold.
The precious metal is never obtained without a cost, however. In West African countries, such as Ghana, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone and others, many illegal mines operated by these youths have collapsed and killed hundreds of souls.
Because the youths are not professionally trained to mine, no safety measures are observed and the tools used for the digging of the gold are primitive-like shovels and pickaxes.
To expose the dangers behind these illegal mines, a photographer, Matjaz Krivic traveled to the West African country of Burkina Faso, to obtain a first-hand experience and take live photos of the activities taking place in these dangerous mines.
Krivic wrote on the Plaid Zebra that, “They can’t read, they can’t write, but they can dig. At the crack of dawn, children of Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, work alongside their parents slaving in the mines for fourteen hours a day. The mines crumble and their lungs fill with dust as they dig deeper into the ground each day in hopes of finding enough gold to feed their families.”
According to Krivic, workers in these mines are only paid when they find the gold and this can sometimes take weeks before the precious metal is obtained.
Children are said to start in the mines at a very young age. They do not go to school and have nothing close to even resembling a social life. They work day-in and day-out, 50 meters underground, in dark unstable conditions with only a faint headlight to guide them through their day. They dig by hand with pickaxes and struggle to find foot holes and hand holes as they climb up and down these dangerous mines, which become pits all over the area. The International Labour Organization has said that this type of illegal mining is one of the most detrimental forms of child labor.
Apart from the environmental degradation that is caused as a result of the surface mining, toxic chemicals are used to extract the gold. River bodies, too, are normally used as a washing bay for the gold, polluting the river and adding to the scarcity of clean water in the area. The dust coming from the mines also poses a health risk to the miners.
Krivic said he is worried because in the western world, people do not even realize the back breaking work that is required for the small amount of gold it takes to manufacture a single smart phone.
“On the other side of the world, the GOLD that they mine is a part of our everyday lives in things such as our phones and electronics. As they break their backs in labour we can’t wait to get our hands on the next iPhone. We don’t realize or acknowledge the hard work and suffering that goes into finding even the smallest amount of gold. It’s essential that we don’t overlook the truth behind the things we take for granted on a daily basis, but rather open our eyes to the truth and learn about where our products come from,” Krivic concluded.
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