AltBrothers

Last updated August 10, 2008 8:15 a.m. PT
KIDS WORKING IN AFRICAN GOLD MINES
By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI AND BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS

One of them is Saliou Diallo. He’s 12 years old and less than 4 feet tall.
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Saliou and his friends, Hassane Diallo, 12 (no relation), and Momodou Ba, 13, dropped out of school about three years ago when the village’s only teacher left. They were living in mud huts with their families in Guinea, and went to work in their fathers’ fields.

Once again we’re reminded of the harsh economic life in Africa. Children in whole villages who have only one teacher, and then lose that one! They have to go scratch and scrape in the fields and mines to earn income for the family often walking long distances from mine to mine.

It would be the same old sad song of life in poverty. But this is more. It’s a “song” needlessly written in a minor key if not out of tune.

The obvious is the continued devaluation of Africans while gaining value from their labor and natural resources. Yes, the Swiss, the Dutch and the rest are in on it as usual and the system hasn’t changed. There’s even a head negro in charge, Ba or Bah. The article says that this guy claims that he has never even visited the mines where these children are working.

Its a disgraceful and despicable thing all around. Are you supporting and sporting it? Read about it http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105ap_toiling_for_gold.html?source=mypi