The Malian Minors – Pitch from Moctar Menta on Vimeo.
Mali is the third biggest gold producer in Africa, mined by children. Child labor is perceived as an industry by itself; an impetus to production in the nation’s gold industry.
All nations are against child labor in any form but there are governments that are construed as condoning it due to the balance it provides in socio economics.
Mali is the third biggest producer of gold, on the African continent after South Africa and Ghana, and yet it is classified as among the ten poorest nations in the world.
The Malian Minors – Trailer from Moctar Menta on Vimeo.
It is estimated 20,000 to 40,000 children, as young as six years old, work in artisanal mining in Mali. It has long term repercussions: their health, well being and the future of the nation.
The children are exposed to toxic mercury, which are released into rivers, ground water and lakes. They also work in sub standard and hazardous working conditions.
There is an INDIEGOGO.COM campaign right now that aims to produce a 90 minute documentary of Mali’s child workers in the gold mines with the help of a former child miner.
The film ‘The Malian Minors’ will be about the plight of child labor in Mali and the dreadful experiences of the children who are artisanal child miners. It hopes to bring the issue to wider attention, but the fundraising is not simply geared towards the making of the film but to sponsor child education and to form an NGO. An increasing amount of gold is sourced in this manner and it needs to stop before it gets worse.
Learn more about it and contribute to the cause at:
http://igg.me/at/malianminors/x/4020262
Or visit http://www.savechildminers.com for more details.