Tanzanite trouble
Tanzania’s desperate farmers chase the blue stone
|
|
All images from a tanzanite mine in Mererani: James Lazier amidst the rubble Richard Human
|
It was the New York jeweller Tiffany’s that christened the stone ‘Tanzanite’ when it appeared on the world market in 1962 from the hills around the town of Mererani, 50 kilometres south of Kilimanjaro. ‘We were always discouraged by our parents from picking up the blue stones,’ says James Lazier, a 26-year-old Maasai from this part of Tanzania. ‘They worried that if we were looking for stones, we wouldn’t be looking after the cattle.’
For a number of years now Tanzanian farmers have craned their necks to scan the clear blue skies in the vain hope that they would miraculously fill with rain clouds. Meanwhile, over at the empty auction houses, the bottom has fallen out of their coffee and sisal markets. Along the coast and in the game parks, tourism is experiencing a slowdown; in the towns cautious foreign investors have shelved expansion plans. The current international political climate has resulted in Western intelligence agencies taking an interest in the mining of the stones.
|
|
A miner descends into the shaft via a wooden ladder – the tunnels below are unlit and unsupported Richard Human
|
James spent a year in the mines of Mererani. Unpaid and unfed, the only way to earn money from this punishing drudgery is to smuggle unearthed gems out of the mine and past the mine owner, before selling the raw stone to one of the many dealers in the town. James never managed it. ‘If you get a stone out you can make eight million Tanzanian shillings (about $10,000),’ James informs me, without the slightest hint of wistfulness.
|
|
A miner with a torch strapped to his head by strips of bicycle tyre inner tube Richard Human
|
‘When a mine is dynamited the miners have to stand, one arm hooked around a ladder step, receiving a bag of rock from the miner below before passing it to the miner above. They will stay in this position for the whole day without a break,’ James continues. ‘The only things that keep them going are brandy and marijuana. Both stop the feeling of hunger but make people feel angry.’
|
|
Sifting the rock fragments for tanzanite Richard Human
|
The lack of central planning causes its own set of problems. Stories abound of mine owners blasting into each others’ tunnels, resulting in fatal brawls breaking out underground between their miners. The trauma of 100 miners killed by floodwater is still fresh in the minds of many. Others fall victim to AIDS, typhoid and malaria. What is clear is that many young Tanzanian males are driven by poverty in their home areas to the hills of Mererani. For most, the grip of grinding poverty only increases its intensity in the dark, dust-filled and oxygen-starved Tanzanite holes. The ad hoc nature of the extraction and dispersal of the stones also helps to perpetuate the poverty of the majority. But, as long as farming remains a precarious existence with changing weather patterns and falling commodity prices, as long as tourism struggles to fill its minibuses and new investors look elsewhere to put their money, the mines will continue to attract those who want a better life for themselves and their families.
Join over 10,000 people just like you. Get e-mail updates about new content, issue alerts, contests, and more!
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
New Internationalist (NI) workers' co-operative exists to report on issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and the powerless worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice.
Except where otherwise noted, images on this site are copyright of the photographer/illustrator or representative agency.Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
