Mongbwalu, democratic Republic of Congo, October 2004
Congolese men prospect in ruins of the abandoned mine. Eastern Congo has
been destabilized by war for the last five years. One of the reasons for the
conflict has been the struggle to control the regions mineral wealth. The
conflict has often taken the form of ethnic strife, but many feel that these
are tribal struggles formented by outsiders that want to keep moving the
mineral wealth across their borders. Large international mining companies
have pulled out, leaving the work to be done by barefoot Congolese, some of
them children, with shovels and buckets.
