"If you are a miner in Bolivia, you're lucky if all you come down with is tuberculosis."
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| Photo: Reuters |
"Jorge, 13, runs the risk of his lungs being incurably destroyed,
for seven dollars and 23 cents he earns a day."
Hot on the heels of the South African Lonmin Marikana mine clashes, during which 34 miners were shot dead last month, here is a sobering Al Jazeera article about life in a Bolivian mine:
Deep inside a pitch black narrow underground cavern underground, Jorge is dripping in sweat, sitting on a wheelbarrow.
Jorge is a miner.
He's taking a minute to catch his breath.
Jorge says he sometimes starts work at 3am.
The air is thin. The mine is about 15,000 feet - or 5,000 metres - above sea level.
Jorge's teeth are badly stained.
He's sucking on a wad of coca leafs which form a bulge in his cheek. It kills the hunger and headaches.
Jorge is digging for silver and zinc.
It's hazardous stuff here.
Jorge is working in an alleyway of the mine so narrow only one wheelbarrow can pass at a time. On the side, open mine shafts that drop down into blackness.
It's dark. The only light here is a beam coming from a headlamp on his hard hat.
Jorge makes about 50 Bolivianos a day. That's about seven dollars - seven dollars and 23 cents, to be exact.
Jorge's not much for words. But it's clear this is a life of necessity, not choice.
"I use the money to buy clothes for me and my family," he says.
There is something else you should know about Jorge.
He's 13 years old.
And he's been working as a miner since he was 11.
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| Striking miners celebrate after securing a 22 percent pay hike from London-listed Lonmin platinum mine (AFP/File, Alexander Joe) |
