The cobalt children of DR congo
Dorsen and Richard were child cobalt miners in DR Congo, Africa. If you have a smartphone, a camera, or other items at home powered by rechargeable batteries, Dorsen and Richard may have mined the cobalt in them. This is their story.
Let’s get our bearings and find where we are on the map. Richard and Dorsen live in DR Congo, in Africa.
Country: Democratic Republic of Congo Population: 69.6 million (UN, 2011 estimate) Capital: Kinshasa Main languages: French (official), Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili, Tshiluba Main religions: Christianity, Islam Life expectancy: 49 (WHO, 2011) Literacy Rate: Adult [15+] 67%, Youth [1524] 65% (UNESCO, 2010) Child mortality: 168 children in every 1,000 likely to die before 5 years (WHO, 2011)
Child nutrition: 24.2% of children below 5 years underweight (WHO, 2012) Poverty: Around 55% of people live on less than a dollar each day. Work: DR Congo earns most of its revenues from mining minerals such as copper and cobalt.
Education: Less than a third of children in the DRC attend secondary school. Most schools are not free which means poor children often get no education. Richard and Dorsen were mining cobalt in a remote village about 100 km (62 miles) from Lubumbashi. They now live at Kimbilio, The Children’s Santuary in Lubumbashi in the south-east of the country.
Source: www.our-africa.org/democratic-republic-ofcongo/
All about cobalt Cobalt is needed to make rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power most electronic devices, such as smartphones, laptops, etc. Cobalt is contained in super alloys used in jet engines. Big companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Sony rely on it for their electronic gadgets.
Cobalt can also be found in electric cars produced by Daimler and Volkswagen. More than 50% of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo: 30% is formally mined, 20% is informally mined by children and artisanal miners. There are an estimated 40k children working in 110 - 150k unofficial mines, known as “artisanal mines� (UNICEF, 2014). Children are expected to work long hours - up to 12 a day, or longer, often seven days a week. Children can earn as little as 8p a day, or nothing. Children often go hungry. Mining cobalt is dangerous and exhausting. Serious and fatal health issues result. Artisanal mines have no proper equipment. Tunnels are unsupported and often collapse. Child labour is illegal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the laws are not enforced. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a lack of infrastructure and deep rooted corruption. The President, Joseph Kabila, is ineffective. Big companies like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Sony, Volkswagen and Daimler need cobalt but, seemingly, they don't want to offer help to the children and artisanal miners who mine it.
Amnesty International claims to have traced cobalt used in lithium batteries sold to 16 multinational brands including Apple, Sony, Microsoft and Volkswagen to mines where young children and adults are being paid a dollar a day, working in life-threatening conditions and subjected to violence, extortion and intimidation.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, says Apple “continue to partner with independent third-party auditors to review documents, interview management and line operators, and perform onsite inspections. These include underage workers or involuntary labor, document falsification, intimidation of or retaliation against workers, and egregious environmental and safety risks. We expect our suppliers to show steady improvement. If year-over-year improvement is not demonstrated by a low-performing supplier, they risk losing our business.� [Apple Supplier Responsibility. 2017 Progress Report, page 4]
Dorsen, 8 and Richard, 11, worked in the cobalt mines in DR Congo. If they made a mistake, they could be threatened or beaten. On this day they worked for 12 hours without food. They hadn’t eaten the previous day either.
In February 2017, Sky News reporter, Alex Crawford, stumbled across these boys working in a cobalt mine and interviewed them. This report was broadcast on 27 February 2017. The Facebook version of this Sky News report has been viewed over 48 million times.
The Sky News report was shocking. I decided to do something to help, if I could. A few days later, the website www.cobaltchildren.org went online; the campaign to help Richard, Dorsen and the cobalt children had begun. Letters were sent to companies including Apple, Sony, Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia, Vodafone, Volkswagen and Daimler. Sadly, none of
these companies have offered to help the cobalt children... Yet. Contact was made with Ian Harvey who started the charity, Congo Children Trust, which runs the project, Kimbilio. Ian offered to help the boys if they could be relocated. We persuaded Alex Crawford of Sky News to revisit this story. She went back to find the boys on 2 May, 2017.
This was Dorsen’s home, where he lived since he was a baby. Richard lived in a similar home. This remote village is located about 100 km (or 62 miles) from the city of Lubumbashi. Part of the journey is over rough, make-shift roads.
Dorsen’s father was shocked to see the Sky News team again. He explained that he wanted to send Dorsen to school, but there wasn’t enough money to feed Dorsen properly, let alone send him to school.
Alex Crawford introduced Dorsen’s and Richard’s fathers to Jean Bosco, the manager of Kimbilio. Jean Bosco explained how Kimbilio could help their sons: provide them with good food, an education, friendship and hope for a different life away from the mines. It was a very serious conversation. The fathers knew it would mean living apart from their sons.
The boys’ fathers wanted to give their sons the chance of a better life. Dorsen’s dad washed his son for the journey. He told him to study hard. Not to fight. To do his best. He says Dorsen is his best friend.
It was time to start the journey from their village to the city of Lubumbashi and their new home at Kimbilio, which means “children’s sanctuary”. This was the first time the boys have been in a car. It was the start of a new life.
It was a long day , but eventually they arrived at Kimbilio and were given a warm welcome by the children and carers. They were exhausted. It was the first time they ever slept in a bed.
The next morning Dorsen and Richard said goodbye to Alex Crawford, and her team. The boys had new clothes. Dorsen had never worn shoes before.
Dorsen and Richard began to tell their new friends about their lives as child cobalt miners. Dorsen and Richard hauled heavy sacks of earth to be sifted for cobalt. They would work 12 hours without food. They were often hungry and in pain.
The children will now have three meals a day. They start the day with a baguette and a cup of tea.
Richard and Dorsen speak Swahili. They are learning French.
With a bit of help, Richard and Dorsen wrote this message: “Merci Flinty d’avoir lutté pour nous.” It means, “Thanks Flinty, for fighting for us.”
Richard and Dorsen’s message and photo found its way to my home in Brotton, all the way from Lubumbashi, DR Congo. It’s the best message I’ve ever received!
Here are some of the children of Kimbilio with Patrick Muzeya sending their love to the children of St Peter’s, and Badger Hill. They look forward to getting to know you.
And here are some more !
And some more !
Thank you for taking an interest in the children of DR Congo.