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Story July 11, 2013

Childhood Lost In Burkina Faso Gold Mines

Country:

Burkina faso

Author:

Larry C. Price
Grantee

Media file: MineIsBorn_Untold_Stories_Price_Burkina_Faso02.jpg

English

In just a quarter century, one of the world's poorest countries has transformed itself into Africa's...

Larry C. Price
Grantee

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According to the CIA World Factbook, Burkina Faso is a poor, landlocked country in Western Africa that relies heavily on cotton and gold exports for revenue. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

A child works alongside her mother at a mining site in Burkina Faso, where photographer Larry C. Price visited to document the child labor. After the ground is cleared of trees and grass, digging begins at a frantic pace for bits of gold. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Children bring water from the bottom of a 25-foot well to use to pan for gold. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Karim Sawadogo, 9, works with his uncle at a gold mine. He has been to school, but only for a while. 'My dream,' he says, 'is to make enough money so I don't have to do this anymore,' reports photographer Larry Price. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Gripping knotted ropes, Joseph, 15, and Germain, 12, work their way down a hand-dug, 150-foot-deep mine shaft near Kollo, a mining village near Tiebele, Burkina Faso. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Theophile, said to be 7, fills a bucket with shards from the walls. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

The prize comes by way of bits of gold ore. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

At a new mining site, about 200 people show up. Of about 50 children in the crowd, even the youngest ones will work. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Despite their rough surroundings, the children still laughed, joked and played cards when they weren't hard at work, said photographer Larry Price. 'What impressed me is kids are kids.' Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Children often work six to seven days a week for up to 14 hours per day. Exhausted, they make due by sleeping on the ground in the noisy mining sites. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Ore-crushing machines spew clouds of dust, which coat the children from head to toe. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

In Burkina Faso, education is free through primary school. However, parents sometimes pull their children from school so that they can help support the family in the gold mines. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

According to a 2011 report on child labor from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Burkina Faso has implemented measures to try to curb child labor, such as setting up a hotline for sexual exploitation of children and launching a national action plan. But 'limited enforcement of the laws perpetuates the risks of children's involvement in the worst forms of child labor,' including 'hazardous activities in agriculture and mining,' the report says. Image by Larry Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Burkina Faso has witnessed a gold boom in recent years, becoming the fourth largest producer of gold in the world. However, the increased production has also led to an increase of child laborers working in dangerous conditions in small, artisanal mines.

Photographer Larry Price visited several communities in Burkina Faso to document the mining conditions.