Though short, this article gave great perspective into the lives of citizens of the Congo and their daily practices. While engulfed in the hunt for products and to find the most effective and cheap way to gather and to therefore produce, people forget morals and values and take advantage of those less fortunate. Unfortunately, when buying a cell phone most consumers rarely would link their new gadget to Africans living in impoverished and dirty villages at a high cost in order just to find the tin to manufacture this product. It’s not that consumers don’t care, it’s that there is a huge disconnect from that African village in Congo, to the Verizon store in Ann Arbor.
Filled with beautiful photography and scenes of living conditions in Congo, this photo essay is interesting and shocking all at the same time. The standard of living is significantly beneath anything that could ever be seen in America, but yet the citizens of this village may pay up to fifty dollars a month for rent, an unsightly number in relation to the average income, and in comparison with nations in a similar economic state.
As Americans, it is our duty to become educated on the places our recourses are coming from and the affect that its having on the people working to uncover these materials.
This video uses photography and narration to convey the horrible environment of an illegal tin ore mine in Eastern Congo. To reach this mine, there are no roads. There is only a narrow, muddy path. Even after seeing an image of someone walking through what looks like a shallow river, I can’t believe it. I think about how I complain about my ten minute walk to the bus stop in the morning. Ten thousand people live in a makeshift village. The photograph of about four men walking through the village, making eye contact with the camera, really struck me. These men live and work in a mine that is controlled by the militia. In reality, they have little to no control over their lives. The tin is essential for computers and backpacks. Ten thousand people live and work in these conditions in order to obtain materials that aren’t even necessary to our lives.
This video scared me. I had no idea that this is what it took to produce a computer or cell phone. I had no idea that young children work endlessly in these muddy mines with soldiers standing over them. Knowing that this is real, and happening makes me anxiously wonder where else something like this is happening, and what frivolous product I am consuming that is causing this to happen.
“Eye opening” is an understatement when I hear the quote at the end, “Unearthed by the poor; consumed by the strong.” I truly feel like a criminal. I have been a proponent of this situation without even realizing it. I have been contributing to this horrible environment.
Sam Schulman
ReplyDeletePost #4
Tin Ore Extraction
Though short, this article gave great perspective into the lives of citizens of the Congo and their daily practices. While engulfed in the hunt for products and to find the most effective and cheap way to gather and to therefore produce, people forget morals and values and take advantage of those less fortunate. Unfortunately, when buying a cell phone most consumers rarely would link their new gadget to Africans living in impoverished and dirty villages at a high cost in order just to find the tin to manufacture this product. It’s not that consumers don’t care, it’s that there is a huge disconnect from that African village in Congo, to the Verizon store in Ann Arbor.
Filled with beautiful photography and scenes of living conditions in Congo, this photo essay is interesting and shocking all at the same time. The standard of living is significantly beneath anything that could ever be seen in America, but yet the citizens of this village may pay up to fifty dollars a month for rent, an unsightly number in relation to the average income, and in comparison with nations in a similar economic state.
As Americans, it is our duty to become educated on the places our recourses are coming from and the affect that its having on the people working to uncover these materials.
This video uses photography and narration to convey the horrible environment of an illegal tin ore mine in Eastern Congo. To reach this mine, there are no roads. There is only a narrow, muddy path. Even after seeing an image of someone walking through what looks like a shallow river, I can’t believe it. I think about how I complain about my ten minute walk to the bus stop in the morning. Ten thousand people live in a makeshift village. The photograph of about four men walking through the village, making eye contact with the camera, really struck me. These men live and work in a mine that is controlled by the militia. In reality, they have little to no control over their lives. The tin is essential for computers and backpacks. Ten thousand people live and work in these conditions in order to obtain materials that aren’t even necessary to our lives.
ReplyDeleteThis video scared me. I had no idea that this is what it took to produce a computer or cell phone. I had no idea that young children work endlessly in these muddy mines with soldiers standing over them. Knowing that this is real, and happening makes me anxiously wonder where else something like this is happening, and what frivolous product I am consuming that is causing this to happen.
“Eye opening” is an understatement when I hear the quote at the end, “Unearthed by the poor; consumed by the strong.” I truly feel like a criminal. I have been a proponent of this situation without even realizing it. I have been contributing to this horrible environment.