mining...

From Bolivia, May 15, 2002
(The post below is from a group email I sent to my friends and family while traveling years ago. I include it in this blog as an archive to my travels. It remains in the the raw state that I originally sent it, foolishness of younger years intact, typos and sics untouched.)

went to the depths of cerro rico (rich hill) today on a tour of a mine in potosi, bolivia. originally mined by the spanish from the 17th century, later by private companies and today largely by mining cooperatives. this of course means there are countless, unmapped mines intertwined under the mountain.

it was absolutely unreal, the miners work together (supposedly) and have come to form union-like alliances. however ultimately it is all for one, one for all... because these mines are not run by private companies, the miners do it themselves. that means jagged, unmapped passageways, no central lighting or oxygen pumped in. no engineers or geologists. no technology of any sort. everything is manual except for the occasional wince. pick-axes, wheelbarrows, shovels, carts, dynamite.

the miners start as early as eight years old, they age amazingly prematurely and have a life expectancy of 45 (the normal in bolivia is somewhere around 60yo). they work at least eight hours a day, six days a week. they take no breaks, eat no lunches. just cigarettes and coca leaves (for energy and to supress the appetite). they make on average about US$100 a month, if lucky.

the miners consider themselves devout catholics, and believe god to be in the heavens but the devil to be in the earth. therefore they have a respect for the devil and create devil figures in the mines and make sacrifices (cigarettes, alcohol, even sacrifice llamas). quite bizarre.

silver, lead and and zinc are mined here. only about 40% of the potential has been mined, but questions as to how much more can be extracted are arising. the problem is that so many separate entities have been mining the same mountain for over three hundred years, leaving countless mines open. nothing is mapped or regulated. its absolutely mad! their are only two options for the future: continue as normal, ultimately costing many lives as the mountain gets more torn up (supposedly 8 million died in spanish colonial times), or switching to an open cast system whereby you dig out the ore from the surface. but the city has forbidden this as they consider the mountain a symbol of their city, heritage, history. damned if you do, damned if you don`t...

and amidst all this, gringos pay to go into the bowels of the earth, get dirty and covered in asbestos and arsenic and quite literally put our lives at risk! first, however, we stop at the miners`market to buy them small gifts. cigarettes, coca leaves, fuel for lanterns, gloves and even dynamite! yes i bought dynamite today!!! bolivia is a great country! (with help of the guide, an ex-miner we later detonated it outside the mine)

they lead us into the mine, nothing is consistent in its construction and probably less is safe. needless to say i was walking around bent over at the waist for the next three hours, walking through puddles, dodging mining carts, offering cigarettes, scraping through crawl spaces, and climbing makeshift ladders!

it was truly amazing to see. probably some of the worst working conditions in the world. (i think a phillip glass film powanasquatsii or kowanasquatsii or something was based on these miners. can anyone confirm this?) it was enjoyable and interesting to be a part of it for a fews hours, but how nice to see the sunlight again! i can`t even put into words now what an impression it makes on you. so please everyone, stop to appreciate for a moment how good you have it!

now an overnight bus to la paz,

until then...

j