Virunga National Park is a major source of revenue for armed groups that exploit illegally its resources such as wildlife, minerals and charcoal. The trafficking of all these natural resources remains one of the underlying causes of instability in Eastern DR-Congo and a curse for nature and people.
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Diamonds and gold — vast natural resources that could enrich a nation — are a curse in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Congolese people have suffered the largest death toll since the second world war. The conflict between warlords and armed rebels for control of these resources have plunged the citizens into a life of poverty, sexual violence, and war. Some 45,000 people die each month as a result.
The actual miners who extract the sought-out treasures have no access to a living wage, societal safety, or simple medical care, while their leaders enrich themselves and allow the misery to continue.
Marcus Bleasdale traces how the west’s consumer appetite for these resources have led to such sub-human conditions for the Congolese, and poses that we might make a difference — at the jewelry counter — simply by asking: where does that ring come from?
…fourteen hundred and fifty tragedies every day. It is countless more than that if you include the orphaned, the bereaved, the widowed, and all the ripples of truncated lives that spread from a single death. It is you and me and our children and our parents, if we had had the bad luck to be born into the world this book portrays. But Congo has one secret that is hard to pass on if you haven’t learned it at first hand. Look carefully and you will find a gaiety of spirit and a love of life that, even in the worst of times, leave the pampered Westerner moved and humbled beyond words.
Foreword to Rape of a Nation, by bestselling novelist John le Carré .
“We wouldn’t have so much trouble if we weren’t so rich.”
This is a common sentiment in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to author Adam Hochschild, who returned to the war-torn nation to follow up on his 1998 bestseller King Leopold’s Ghost. (The resulting article, “Blood and Treasure,” appears in our March/April issue.) That quote, of course, is 24-carat irony, since Congo’s people are desperately poor—not in spite of, but largely because of the Pandora’s box that accompanies their nation’s fabulous resource wealth.
To produce this photoessay, which accompanies Hochschild’s piece in the print magazine, Marcus Bleasdale spent eight years documenting the lives and conflicts of the Congolese. His dedication has resulted in two photo books, One Hundred Years of Darkness and, out in March, Rape of a Nation—the source of the images you see here. It’s easy for Americans to remain oblivious to the troubles of people in faraway lands, but Bleasdale’s photos manage to pierce our cynical gaze. And that’s only fair, since American consumers and investors are among those who profit most from Congo’s misery—be they the Wall Street mogul who owns 12 percent of mining multinational AngloGold Ashanti, or simply everyday folks who like electronic gadgets and sparkly jewelry.
You can also find a multimedia presentation of Bleasdale’s work at MediaStorm.
Both men and women artisan gold miners prepare stones for panning in Mongbwalu, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in October 2004. Most of these artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. The majority of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife with malaria being the biggest killer.Final prayers are spoken at the burial of Sakura Lisi, the eight-month-old daughter of an artisan gold miner in Mongbwalu, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in October 2004. Most of the artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. The majority of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife with malaria being the biggest killer.The body of Sakura Lisi, an eight-month-old daughter of an artisan gold miner, is washed in preparation for the burial in Mongbwalu, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in October 2004. She died of anemia brought on by malaria. Most of the artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. The majority of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife with malaria being the biggest killer.Refugees flee south after a rebel attack on Bule and Fataki, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in August 2003. Ongoing conflict and the lack of access to medical care has claimed the lives of millions in the DRC since 1998.A miner sits on a bed in Mongbwalu, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in October 2004. He suffers from tuberculosis and has been left to fend for himself in a sanitorium. Most of the artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. The majority of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife with malaria being the biggest killer.An artisan gold miner crawls through a tunnel in Wasta, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in October 2004. Most of the artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. The majority of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife with malaria being the biggest killer.Men mine for gold in Beni, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in August 2003. Access to gold mining in the DRC is one of the reasons for the ongoing conflict in the eastern regions of the country. Most of these artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. The majority of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife, malaria being the biggest killer.Men mine for gold in Gety, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in October 2004. Most of these artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. The majority of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife, malaria being the biggest killer.Dealers buy diamonds in Mbuji Maji, Kasai District, Democratic Republic of Congo in August 2004. Known as the diamond centre of the Congo, Mbuji Maji has a population of nearly three million people, where most agriculture has ceased and has been replaced with the diamond rush. Many dealers become church pastors in order to use their religious influence in convincing their congregation to sell their diamonds.A child mines for gold in Watsa, Ituri District, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in October 2004. Most of these artisan miners are combatants, who control these mineral-rich areas and profit from its exploitation. Most of the gold mined in this region leaves the DRC illegally and is sent to Uganda. Illness and disease are rife, malaria being the biggest killer.
SAVE VIRUNGA 