The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo — a nation endowed with vast potential wealth — has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The two recent conflicts (the First and Second Congo Wars), which began in 1996, have dramatically reduced national output and government revenue, have increased external debt, and have resulted in the deaths from war, famine, and disease of perhaps 3.8 million people. Foreign businesses have curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, lack of infrastructure, and the difficult operating environment.
The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, inflation, and lack of openness in government economic policy and financial operations. Malnutrition affects approximately two thirds of the country's population. Conditions improved in late 2002 with the withdrawal of a large portion of the invading foreign troops. A number of International Monetary Fund and World Bank missions have met with the government to help it develop a coherent economic plan, and President Joseph Kabila has begun implementing reforms.
Congo has significant deposits of tantalum, which is used in the fabrication of electric components used in computers and mobile phones. Tantalum is essential in the manufacture of electrical components known as pinhead capacitors. Regional analysts say the international demand for coltan is one of the driving forces behind the war in the DRC, and the presence of rival militias in the country.
What can $150 do for a child slave and their family?
When is the last time you spent $150 dollars? Most of us can answer that question instantly. Maybe for an anniversary dinner, a birthday, Christmas, or even a pair of shoes. This is a fact! One hundred and fifty dollars in the DR of Congo can save a child slave and their family from the slave mines for one whole year. One hundred and fifty dollars will provide a family with food and necessities for one year. The Mwamba Family Foundation will ensure that as many families as possible can receive these funds for their children, and save one child at a time from the attrocity that is child slavery!
Child Slavery in the DR Congo.
What is the connection between your fancy cell phone, slim line laptop computer, iPod and child labour? A brutal truth about modern day slavery and a covert military operation involving the illegal trafficking of coltan in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa. Every day millions of children are forced to crawl into underground mines on their hands and knees to dig for the essential raw material, coltan, to make electronic gadgets like cell phones, iPods, laptop computers, play stations, wireless systems, DVD players, blackberries and pagers possible. These technologically advanced toys are given life from capacitors, which are made from coltan, dug up from dangerous mines by children, under age 10.
The illegal trafficking of coltan in the Congo, has made thousands of children labourers. They work from sunrise to after dark digging with their calloused little hands into the earth to remove the raw material to be traded on the black market for US $400 a pound. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Labor listed Congo as the country with "The Worst Forms of Child Labor."
Coltan, a rare columbium-tantalite ore, along with wolfarmite and cassiterite are dug from the mines by one group of children and then passed on to another group who sloshes the silt through a sieve, and scoop up the coltan from the bottom, for 20 cents a day. Thousands of children, between three and ten, combine to form a massive child labour force to dig for coltan, also called black gold, in the militia controlled and operated mines in the Congo. More than two million children have died in the past ten years from mine related accidents there. In the Congo, a missing or dead child is disregard like a foul thought. The earnings from coltan are more important than the life of a scraggly child. And the Government pretends it does not exist. Well it does exist, and the Mwamba Family Foundation intends to bring about awareness of this child labor force to as many people as possible.
Culture and Economy of Mbijimayi.
A commercial center, Mbuji-Mayi handles most diamond mining, panning, and production in the Congo. It is also home to an airport. The city remains extremely remote for its huge population, with little connection to the outside world.Diamonds, the top export in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are mostly extracted from the middle of the country at Kasai Oriental Province. Yet people there are among the poorest in the DRC and diamonds seem to be tearing apart their society.
Children do much of the work and many are killed in accidents or in fighting over diamonds. Distrust is feeding superstition and causing a strange and terrible phenomenon: thousands of children are being accused of witchcraft. About 20km east of the provincial capital Mbuji Mayi is a place known in the Luba language as Muambulia Bantu. It's a green, fertile valley with rolling hills, but beneath the beauty lurks danger: the earth is pockmarked with holes up to 100 feet. The smaller the person, the better they can maneuver once they've been lowered down the rope. The boy at the bottom of the hole is Punda Lione: "It's dark down here," he says. From that far down the daylight above is just a pin prick. He has been there since 7am; it is now midday. He is employed by an adult to dig out the dirt and put it into sacks, which he then ties to a rope. The sacks are pulled to the surface; other children employed by the same man carry them down the hill to a creek where they wash the dirt in a sieve, picking out what in Luba is called 'mbongu': diamonds. All of a sudden a cry goes up: "Mbongu! Mbongu" A boy has found one and instantly hides it in his mouth. The children occasionally find diamonds worth thousands of dollars, but are not allowed to keep them, says Charles Tchibanza, a sociologist from Mbuji Mayi University. "These children have no protection except from the people exploiting them. Their lives are at risk. Most are here because they were abandoned by their families.
The number of children abandoned in Mbuji Mayi is staggering. Tchibanza conducted a survey in 1999 and counted almost 10,000. He's started updating the survey and says it's clear there are now many more. He blames sorcery. "Many people here believe in witchcraft. It's part of Luba tradition, although what is happening today in Mbuji Mayi is something new. Before, if someone was accused of having demonic powers the village would take the person and make them go through a purification ceremony. No one would ever be thrown out of their homes; certainly not a child. What's happening today is a result of urbanisation and desperation caused by diamonds," says Tchibanza. What exactly do diamonds and witchcraft have to do with each other? Tchibanza says it is a matter of ongoing research.
What is clear is that diamond mining accounts for at least 70 percent of the economy in and around Mbuji Mayi. Yet despite a few garish mansions, most people live in mud huts without electricity or running water. Though the region is fertile, people don't have enough to eat. Farming does not offer the possibility of sudden wealth in the same way as diamonds. But diamonds bring frustration and breed distrust and superstition.
The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo — a nation endowed with vast potential wealth — has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The two recent conflicts (the First
The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, inflation, and lack of openness in government economic policy and financial operations. Malnutrition
Congo has significant deposits of tantalum
When is the last time you spent $150 dollars? Most of us can answer that question instantly. Maybe for an anniversary dinner, a birthday, Christmas, or even a pair of shoes. This is a fact! One hundred and fifty dollars in the DR of Congo can save a child slave and their family from the slave mines for one whole year. One hundred and fifty dollars will provide a family with food and necessities for one year. The Mwamba Family Foundation will ensure that as many families as possible can receive these funds for their children, and save one child at a time from the attrocity that is child slavery!
What is the connection between your fancy cell phone, slim line laptop computer, iPod and child labour? A brutal truth about modern day slavery and a covert military operation involving the illegal trafficking of coltan in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa. Every day millions of children are forced to crawl into underground mines on their hands and knees to dig for the essential raw material, coltan, to make electronic gadgets like cell phones, iPods, laptop computers, play stations, wireless systems, DVD players, blackberries and pagers possible. These technologically advanced toys are given life from capacitors, which are made from coltan, dug up from dangerous mines by children, under age 10. 
The illegal trafficking of coltan in the Congo, has made thousands of children labourers. They work from sunrise to after dark digging with their calloused little hands into the earth to remove the raw material to be traded on the black market for US $400 a pound. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Labor listed Congo as the country with "The Worst Forms of Child Labor." 
Coltan
A commercial center, Mbuji-Mayi handles most diamond mining
Children do much of the work and many are killed in accidents or in fighting over diamonds. Distrust is feeding superstition and causing a strange and terrible phenomenon: thousands of children are being accused of witchcraft. About 20km east of the provincial capital Mbuji Mayi is a place known in the Luba language as Muambulia Bantu. It's a green, fertile valley with rolling hills, but beneath the beauty lurks danger: the earth is pockmarked with holes up to 100 feet. The smaller the person, the better they can maneuver once they've been lowered down the rope. The boy at the bottom of the hole is Punda Lione: "It's dark down here," he says. From that far down the daylight above is just a pin prick. He has been there since 7am; it is now midday. He is employed by an adult to dig out the dirt and put it into sacks, which he then ties to a rope. The sacks are pulled to the surface; other children employed by the same man carry them down the hill to a creek where they wash the dirt in a sieve, picking out what in Luba is called 'mbongu': diamonds. All of a sudden a cry goes up: "Mbongu! Mbongu" A boy has found one and instantly hides it in his mouth. The children occasionally find diamonds worth thousands of dollars, but are not allowed to keep them, says Charles Tchibanza, a sociologist from Mbuji Mayi University. "These children have no protection except from the people exploiting them. Their lives are at risk. Most are here because they were abandoned by their families. 
The number of children abandoned in Mbuji Mayi is staggering. Tchibanza conducted a survey in 1999 and counted almost 10,000. He's started updating the survey and says it's clear there are now many more. He blames sorcery. "Many people here believe in witchcraft. It's part of Luba tradition, although what is happening today in Mbuji Mayi is something new. Before, if someone was accused of having demonic powers the village would take the person and make them go through a purification ceremony. No one would ever be thrown out of their homes; certainly not a child. What's happening today is a result of urbanisation and desperation caused by diamonds," says Tchibanza. What exactly do diamonds and witchcraft have to do with each other? Tchibanza says it is a matter of ongoing research. 
What is clear is that diamond mining accounts for at least 70 percent of the economy in and around Mbuji Mayi. Yet despite a few garish mansions, most people live in mud huts without electricity or running water. Though the region is fertile, people don't have enough to eat. Farming does not offer the possibility of sudden wealth in the same way as diamonds. But diamonds bring frustration and breed distrust and superstition. 
