The Cost of Cobalt has worked exclusively with leading NGO, pact, to have candid conversations with four former child miners about their experiences in artisanal cobalt mines in the DRC.
Here's what Inaswa had to say...
Hello! I am Inaswa Kapenda Kasongo, I am 16 years old and was born into a family of 6 children including 3 girls. In 2019, I started going to Musompo Maison quarry because I had nothing else to do and I was under the influence of my friends. With my friends, we collected minerals and I could earn 10,000 FC per week. This money was wasted on useless expenses: smoking, eating, drinking, running after girls… and that was it. I stayed there for a year and at the beginning of 2020, I didn't want to go there anymore because of the pain I felt after work.
What was it like working in the mines?
Working in the mine is a horrible thing for a child. Thee mine is a place where you work hard for little money. The image that I keep of the quarry is one of a place with no morale, a sinful place where drunk diggers abuse children, through, for instance, confiscating their new clothes and shoes. They pay us when they want and what they want without any consideration for our age and the heavy work we do. So, yes, I have a bad memory of the quarry. If my sister tells me she wants to go to the mines, I will oppose her because there, girls are raped and have nowhere to go complain. When I used to work there, I felt very bad, desperate, lost, with no future, always sick and tired. I was always in pain because the work was hard. It was a life of sacrifice in the mine.
How did working in the mine make you feel?
A day where I get up early in the morning, without eating or taking a bath before going to work. I don't have time to play with my friends and sometimes, I come back home in the evening with no money because the buyer has taken the merchandise and promised to pay me afterwards. It could take me weeks to get paid and, in those cases, I had no other choice than going back to the mines the next day and start over again. At the buying point, they look at the quality of the minerals you have collected and if they judge it is no good, you have to return with your bag, with the risk of having it confiscated by the “Shegués” (street children) you will meet on your way. So, a day at the mine for me is an ordeal.
How do you think the issue of child labour can be addressed/changed?
For me, to solve the problem of child labour, the government must respond to the social needs of the people: create work for everyone so children must no longer go to the mines to earn money for food, health care, and for other basic needs. The government must punish all those who recruit children to work in the mines; build schools and learning centres, as well as playgrounds, because many like me end up working in the mines because they have nothing else to do. For some children, the quarry is a playground.
What are you doing now that you’ve been through the program? What new skills have you learnt and what are your plans for the future?
Currently, I have finished my training in motorcycle mechanics; I am quite good at repairing motorcycles and generators and can easily earn 50.000 FC/day. I also put some money aside, which allowed me to pay an advance of 250,000 FC for the purchase of a new motorcycle that I can use as a cab. I am working hard to make the remaining 250,000 FC.
My plan for the future is as follow:
1) Finish to pay for my motorcycle;
2) build my own workshop and furnish it;
3) Take apprentices to teach them the trade.
I do not think of marriage for the moment. First, I must be at least 18 years old and have my own house. What is sure, is that I will never go back to the mine.
