Meet Déogratias. From 1999 to 2004, he was a member of a rebel group. At the request of the government, Déogratias turned in his weapons. But this was just the first step towards changing his life. “After surrendering the weapon, another challenge awaited us, that of integration into the community.”

Déogratias turned to gold digging to earn a living. But he found his transition from being in a rebel group, to this work difficult. “I had regular conflicts with people because of my rebellious nature which made me violently take other people’s property.”

One day, the Conflict Resolution Center (CRC) visited Déogratias and others also mining gold. They encouraged them to work aspart of a cooperative. Later CRC came back and offered training such as “how to manage conflicts”.

“This motivated me to join the cooperative. Thanks to this training, today I manage my work site very well.” Déogratias has now managed to turn around his life. After joining the co-operative and engaging in training offered by CRC, he is able to work alongside others at the mine without disputes. “I am grateful to CRC for their guidance, which has allowed me to integrate into the community
and live in harmony with my co-workers, and the work of CRC has decreased the rate of conflict in the community.”

Déogratias is now in charge of logistics at Comalobani, one of the co-operatives. Without the support provided by this project, those
re-integrating in their communities from rebel groups would not be given a second chance and a way out of their old lives.

Meet Stella, her main source of income previously came from the mines. Women are often the main breadwinners in their homes and are responsible for providing for their families. Men often struggle to find employment, are lost due to armed conflicts or die on the front lines, leaving women widowed and solely responsible for their children.

The work often done by women is lighter, with men taking physically intense work. Longstanding cultural views on the work division between men and women often leave women like Stella with a role that does not provide a substantial or regular wage necessary to support their families

As part of the project, CRC has helped women transition into employment outside of the mines, including setting up their own businesses.

“Today, thanks to the CRC, I have a job that supports my family. I sell things like sugar, water and soap. This allows me to feed my family, pay my children’s school fees on time and cultivate my fields.”

Meet Aly, he is the president of the Comalobani cooperative.
Before the project helped to form mining cooperatives, individuals would work at the mines in silo, without any guidance or understanding of how mines should be operated. “This is no longer the case for all members of COMALOBANI, thanks to the various trainings received from CRC”.

Before the cooperative was formed, mercury was used as part of the process. “We did not know its harmful effects. What mattered to us was to extract gold by any means. [But] mercury seriously pollutes the water, everything in it and everything around it. This has serious consequences on the health of the people living in the area. Many times, we thought that our brothers were suffering from diseases such as tuberculosis or poisoning, … when the real cause of their death was related to the use of mercury.”

As part of the project, CRC has regularly visited the co-operatives, providing training, including on the use of mercury in mining. Since removing mercury from the process, “we noticed firstly that
we have saved the money that was formerly used to purchase mercury. Secondly, we have saved time in processing thanks to
the machines we received. Thirdly, we have saved ourselves from diseases that were going to affect us because of the use of mercury, such as: body tremor, memory impairment, hearing problems, etc. But the biggest advantage we have as artisanal gold miners is that the gold we mine and process here has a better chance of being accepted in the world market.”

Many other members of the co-operative like Aly are grateful for the training provided through this project and for the removal of mercury from the mines. With your support in buying gold, we can continue to provide the support needed to improve the processes within the mines.