What do we need Coltan for?

The ore Coltan is just one of many minerals over which there is a civil war going on. When it comes to its mineral reserves (particularly diamonds, coltan, cassiterite, tin, and copper) the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the richest countries in the world. And Coltan is its Gold. Out of the ore you obtain the rare metal Tantalum. Without it, the modern world wouldn’t be the same: Tantalum is used in cameras, game consoles, laptops, flat-screen TV’s, nuclear reactors as well as our mobile phones. Since all of these gadgets are produced in huge quantities, the demand for Coltan constantly ascends. And the worst part about this: there is no real alternative for it.

The Coltan War.

80% of the world’s known Coltan supply is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Experts say, that the demand for Coltan is one of the driving forces behind the war in the DRC. Most of the mines are rebel-controlled. A UN-report states that the Rwandan army made 250 million US $ from selling Coltan in less than 18 months (even though there is no Coltan in Rwanda to mine). Apart from the corruption that is going on, child labour is also very common in the Congo, and the mining industry is no exception. In the past ten year, millions of people have died; villages have been (and still are) raided & families have been massacred. The money from the Coltan sale is often immediately spent on new weapons; it’s a vicious circle.

Environmental issues.

Farmers:

Farmers have been forced off their land (or were forced to mine themselves) as war has ravaged their land. Most of the men who work in the Coltan business used to be farmers. Their wage is above average with about 200 US $ per month. Though the problem about this issue is simple as well. Once they get paied, it’s not unlikely that they’ll be robbed as soon as they return home. The people can’t do anything about this, because…well, life is cheap in Africa…

Wild life:

The Congo is well knows for its Silverback Gorillas and they are also one of the victims because the main area in which Coltan is mined, is in the Kahuzi-Biéga National Park. This park is home to the famouse Mountain Gorilla. Diane Fossey also started studied their life here, before she decided to leave for Rwanda. Miners are killing the gorillas for their “bush meat”. It’s highly priced and therefore the demand is rising. There are only about 130 free living Mountain Gorillas left in this National Park (where before there were over 14.000), and their numbers are still decreasing.

A dead mountain Gorilla in The Congo. Photo by Brent Stirton.

What can we do?

Well, there is not that much that we “little ones” can do, because as usual this lies with the big companies. But there’s still something that each and every one of us can do:

• Try not to buy a new mobile phone every year. Of course we all know that the iPhone 6 will be faster & better than the iPhone 5, but if you wait one more year, there’s going to be a new phone on the market anyway…
• If you do decide to throw out your old phone, think of a way to recycle it. Give it to charity, or look on the Internet for other ways of recycling.
• Spread the word. Most people don’t even know about this issue and the situation hasn’t changed mostly because the consumers don’t complain. Visit RaiseHopeforCongo.org to get more information.

Soil erosion caused by excessive mining (source: ABC Australia).

Civil war because of minerals for our mobile phones…Photo credits unknown.

Nothing could stop our idea; the only person who gave some support was a doctor friend, who provided us with medicine, baby syringes, infusions, first aid kits and a brief introduction on what to do in an emergency. With 800 nappies, lots of bottles, heaps of baby food, a good stove & fridge, and also a bit of a queasy feeling, our big truck rolled out of Vienna.

We soon found out, that the entire trip had to be customized to our little girl. Normally, you’re tired after hours of driving on very bad roads, or having to fill up 20 jerry cans, or having to change a tire, set up a tent , plus, plus, plus … Nisa fell asleep in her seat, the minute we started the truck. And as soon as we stopped to fix something, she awoke. When we would need four hands to do some maintenance on the car, it was all but certain that Nisa needed attention.

So the trip on a barge upwards on the river Congo for a few days was a well deserved break for us. After the truck was uploaded (under difficult conditions) onto deck of the barge, our holiday started :)

The floating market along the Congo river provided us with fresh food.

I did not switch my eyes off Nisa during the entire trip; there was no railing and about 2.000 people travelling upriver on this conglomerate of barges roped together…Except a second couple from Switzerland (who also travelled by car), there were no other tourists on this journey. And as you can imagine, most of the local travellers wanted to get a glimpse at the little white girl. Most people there have seen a white person before, but such a tiny one? Well, it didn’t seem like it. It was a “hello” here, a “hello” there. Everybody paraded by at the truck to have a look and Nisa & as soon as they did, it put a smile on their face :)

Anyway, there was this one guy with his own daughter who had the idea with the picture. I took a couple of shots with my old Canon camera and rolls of films with Nisa and this dark Congolese girl. The girl’s father was so happy and proud; unfortunately we did not get an address to send him a copy, I bet he would have loved the picture as much as we do.

Back & White kids in the Congo, Africa.

With this photo we also won the 1st prize in the Amnesty International photo contests “Ja zu Vielfalt! Nein zu Diskriminierung!” (in English this would mean “Yes to diversity! No to discrimination!”