“The Mountain That Eats Man”: The Child Miners of Bolivia
BY: JONAS WRESCH
The sun begins to rise and a silver light begins to illuminate the terracotta rooftops of the city of Potosi, Bolivia. It is 5 a.m. Thousands of men, women and children make their way up narrow roads towards the peak that looms over the city. In the depths of the Cerro Rico Mountain run veins of precious metals that once bankrolled the Spanish Empire. What used to be the world’s largest deposit of silver was mined by Quechua laborers, who were forced to work under such unbearable conditions that Cerra Rico was nicknamed “The Mountain That Eats Man.”
The sides of the mountain are scarred with sinkholes, which indicate the over-mined and depleted veins that can expand and collapse with no warning. Yet these symbols of danger do nothing to deter miners who depend on the mountain to make their daily bread. In the wake of the fathers early death due to a mining accident, Maxima works over 168 hours per week guarding the mines of Cerra Rico. Her youngest child is seven years old who, to scrape some extra money together, sometimes enters the mines to move rocks and clear paths for carts. They risk explosions, poisonous gas, cave-ins, lung disease and even molestation at the hands of drunken miners to support themselves.
In the series Potosi’s Little Guards, photographer Jonas Wresch documents the broken nights of Maxima, who after countless hours of back-breaking work returns home to huddle in the warmth of her three children Paul, Isreal, and Yoddy. These photos show how economic failure can burden children with a weighty sense of responsibility. Their hands may be calloused but their eyes still remain tender.
As I look at Yoddy and her brothers lie in bed, where under the mattress mining drills are being stored, I cannot help but wonder if these children are growing up too fast.
When Yoddy, Paul and Israel come home from school it already gets dark. Often they meet drunken miners on the way up to their house. Yoddy doesn‘t like to live between so many miners. She doesn’t feel comfortable and says that many of them molest her.Maxima Limachi holds her youngest son Israel in her arms. On the window ledge stands a photo of her deceased husband. He died at the age of 35 in a mining accident in one of the tunnels of “Cerro Rico”. Since then, Maxima has raised her children alone.Every friday the miners drink cheap 96% alcohol or beer before and during their shift. Israel discovered a rusty part of an old machine right next to the miners and uses it for some gymnastic exercise.Surrounded by mining-carts and the exhaust of compressors, Israel walks along a road on Cerro Rico.Accidents happen frequently in the hazardous environment of the silver mountain.When Paul slept at a neighbor‘s house, the twelve year old son of the family poured alcohol over his leg and foot and set him on fire. He suffered from extensive second-degree burns, but his mother never sent him to a doctor or hospital. Only when the local NGO “cepromin” took notice of the case, he received medical treatment.Yoddy works in the kitchen to prepare lunch that she later sells to the miners that work close to her house. She also sells the soda and liquor on the shelf behind her.Every day at twelve o’clock, Israel and his siblings go through a little transformation to show their best side in school. They put on the school uniform, comb their hair and clean their shoes. They are afraid of beeing discriminated in school due to their appearance and the smell of minerals in their clothing.Instead of going to school, Yoddy and Paul wait for hours to receive free clothing that the cooperative is handing out.Maxima sits in front of her house with a group of young miners, [who] chew coca-leaves before entering the mine. The juice is supposed to give them energy for the hard work in the mine.Israel stands in front of his house right next to the entrance of the mine and plays with “Oso”, one of his six dogs.Yoddy and Maxima are pushing the cart with rocks out of the mine.Maxima travels with the brother of her deceased husband and her three children to the thermal springs in the village of ” MirafloresIn the early morning, Yoddy and her brothers lie in bed. Under the mattress the family stores drills that the miners use in the mine next to the house. [If] something gets stolen; they would have to replace the expensive tools.
