The Congo Chronicle March, 2014 | Page 8

"The future of this war-torn country [the Congo] is uncertain. Millions have died and continue to die despite the declarations of UN members that the war must cease. Until peace is restored, the enormous suffering of Congolese people will continue,”(unknown source) since 1998 the Congolese people have suffered and 6.9 million have been killed. One of the main causes of this suffering is conflict minerals, they have been the driving force behind many rebel groups who are fighting for control of the area.

"Profit from the mineral trade is one of the main motives for armed groups on all sides of the conflict in eastern Congo - the deadliest since World War II"(hope for Congo, 2013) All of the armed groups in the DRC, even the government, are using violence on the Congolese people as a way to control the mines and the wealth they control. To these groups the mines are essential to their agenda, sadly however the workers in the mines are seen as disposable and the mine workers are treated as such being forced to work for long hours, sometimes upwards of 12 hours, in harsh and dangerous environments. "I sometimes stayed down there for a week before coming up. Every month people die here, when one of these holes collapses."(Chance 16) This account of the mines in the Congo come from a 16 year old boy named Chance who when he heard that a mine was starting not far from his home traveled there, in hope of making enough money to be able to build his own home and give himself a future.

Sadly his dreams may never be realized because he had to take loans from the rebel group controlling the mine to buy the equipment he needed to be able to start working at the mine and is now only paying them back not actually making any money for himself. "The first time I crawled down the hole I could not stay for very long. I wasn't used to the heat"(chance 16) chance tells of how when he first started work in the mines he could only stay down in the working zone for 2 hours due to the extreme heat and the he could handle it no longer and had to crawl out again and cool off. After working there for a while he is now used to the heat and describes how he now often goes a week without leaving the hole or even seeing the sun because he doesn't have the motivation to leave. Still, chance is considered a lucky one by mining standards in the Congo

DIGGING FOR A CHANCE

a child miner after a day in the mines