Two younger lives that ended within the seek for gold

[ad_1] Godwin Asediba BBC Information Komla Dumor Award winner, Japanese Province, Sierra Leone

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4401/live/ac4577d0-cf81-11f0-8390-cf8c18f355e0.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Andre Lombard / BBC A woman in a yellow, patterned headscarf and half-brown, half-yellow T-shirt is holding up the cracked screen of her smartphone." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Andre Lombard / BBC Namina Jenneh is mourning her 17-year-old son who died whereas mining for gold

There's a sense of disbelief on this Sierra Leonean village as folks weep in entrance of the our bodies of two teenage boys wrapped in white material.

The day earlier than, 16-year-old Mohamed Bangura and 17-year-old Yayah Jenneh left their properties in Nyimbadu, within the nation's Japanese Province, hoping to earn a bit extra cash for his or her households.

That they had gone seeking gold however by no means returned. The makeshift pit they had been digging in collapsed on them.

This was the third deadly mine accident, leaving a complete of no less than 5 kids lifeless, within the final 4 years on this area.

Mohamed and Yayah had been a part of a phenomenon that has seen a rising variety of kids lacking faculty in elements of Sierra Leone to mine the valuable steel in probably deadly pits, in accordance with headteachers and neighborhood activists.

The Japanese Province has traditionally been identified for diamond mining. However lately casual - or artisanal - gold mining has expanded because the diamond reserves have been depleted.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d091/live/f02e43a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="David Wilkins / BBC An aerial shot of a mining site - pools of dirty water can be seen amid the dug up earth." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> David Wilkins / BBC Folks dig up the wealthy earther wherever they assume they may have the ability to discover gold

Mining websites pop up wherever native folks discover deposits on this land laden with riches - on farmland, in former graveyards and alongside riverbeds.

There are few formal mining corporations working right here, however within the areas which aren't thought-about worthwhile, the panorama is dotted with these unregulated pits that may be as deep as 4m (13 toes).

Comparable - and equally harmful - mines might be discovered in lots of African international locations and there are sometimes reviews of lethal collapses.

Most households in Nyimbadu depend on small-scale farming and petty buying and selling for a dwelling. Different employment is scarce so the chance to earn some additional money may be very enticing.

However the neighborhood within the village gathered on the native funeral house know the work additionally comes at a worth, with the lack of two younger lives stuffed with promise.

Yayah's mom, Namina Jenneh, is a widow and had been counting on her younger son to assist present for her different 5 kids.

As somebody who labored within the pits herself, she acknowledges that she launched Yayah to mining however says: "He did not inform me he was going to that website - if I had identified I might have stopped him."

When she heard in regards to the collapse, she says she begged somebody to "name the excavator driver.

"When he arrived, he cleared the particles that had buried the youngsters."

But it surely was too late to avoid wasting them.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/38e0/live/0d58a750-cf81-11f0-a892-01d657345866.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Namina Jenneh A head and shoulders shot of Yayah Jenneh, he is wearing a white vest top." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Namina Jenneh Yayah Jenneh was mining as a way to assist his mom help his 5 siblings

Ms Jenneh speaks with deep ache. On a cell phone with a cracked display, she scrolls via footage of her son, a boy with vibrant eyes who supported her.

Sahr Ansumana, an area little one safety activist, takes me to the collapsed pit.

"For those who ask some mother and father, they're going to let you know there is not any different different. They're poor, they're widows, they're single mother and father," he says.

"They need to care for the children. They themselves encourage the children to go and mine. We're struggling and need assistance. It is worrying and getting out of hand."

However the warning goes unheeded – the lack of Yayah and Mohamed has not emptied the pits.

The day after their funerals, miners together with kids are again at work, their fingers sifting sand by the river or inspecting the earth manually excavated seeking the glimmer of gold.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4344/live/5b7aca30-cf81-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="David Wilkins / BBC Komba Sesay, wearing black shorts and top is crouching in the light brown soil where he is mining." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> David Wilkins / BBC Komba Sesay want to turn into a lawyer however is lacking faculty as a way to mine

At one website I meet 17-year-old Komba Sesay who desires to be a lawyer, however he spends daylight right here to help his mom.

"There isn't any cash," he says. "That's what we're looking for. I'm working so I can register and sit my [high school] exams. I need to return to highschool. I am not comfortable right here."

Komba's earnings are meagre. In most weeks he earns about $3.50 (£2.65) – lower than half the nation's minimal wage. However he perseveres within the hope of hanging it wealthy. On some, very uncommon, good days he has discovered sufficient ore to earn him $35.

After all, he is aware of the work is dangerous. Komba has associates who've been injured in pit collapses. However he feels that mining is the one manner he can earn some cash.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3d7b/live/884e77a0-cf81-11f0-8c06-f5d460985095.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="David Wilkins / BBC A group of four people are working in a muddy channel where they are digging and looking for gold." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> David Wilkins / BBC The damaging work sees folks digging with minimal instruments as a way to discover some gold

And it's not solely pupils who're leaving faculties.

Roosevelt Bundo, the headteacher of Gbogboafeh Aladura Junior Secondary Faculty in Nyimbadu says "academics additionally go away lessons to go to the mining websites, they mine along with the scholars".

Their authorities pay can not compete with what they can earn from gold mining.

There are additionally wider indicators of change across the mining hubs. What had been as soon as small camps have swelled into cities within the final two years.

The federal government says it's addressing the problem.

Info Minister Chernor Bah tells the BBC that the federal government stays dedicated to schooling however provides that the state recognises the numerous challenges folks face.

"We spend about 8.9% of our GDP, the best of every other nation on this sub-region, on schooling," he says, including that funds go to academics, school-feeding programmes and subsidies supposed to maintain kids within the classroom.

However on the bottom, actuality bites. Quick survival usually wins over coverage.

Charities and native activists attempt to take away kids from the pits and place them again into faculty, however with out dependable alternate options for earnings, the pits are too enticing.

Again in Nyimbado, the households of the 2 lifeless boys seem exhausted and hollowed out.

The loss is not only of two younger lives. It's the regular erosion of chance for a era.

"We want assist," the activist Mr Ansumana says. "Not prayers. Not guarantees. Assist."

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