BOLIVIA TODAY

"Watching children and young adolescents push loaded wheelbarrows out of the dark corridors of the tin, zinc and silver mines of the Bolivian town of Potosi, it is clear that the harsh reality of adulthood comes far too early. "I work out of necessity," explains 12-year-old driller Ramiro, helmet in hand, as he stands at the entrance of one of the mines that honeycomb the Cerro Rico - meaning Rich Hill - that towers above the town. He feels bad because he knows that working in the mine puts his health at risk, he says, and "that is what every single one of the children that works inside feels; sometimes some die, some survive". Wiping his sweaty forehead, which is covered in dark dust, he adds: "For us, who work inside the mine, it is not good; the mine brings a lot of disease, a lot of death." It is prolonged exposure to that dust that gives the average miner a life expectancy of only 40 years. The culprit is what they call the "mal de mina", the lung disease silicosis. At the entrance to one of the mines, surrounded by grey piles of mineral waste, men can be seen alongside children, chewing coca leaves as a way to stay awake, carrying picks, mattocks and shovels. It seems that childhood is a luxury the poorest residents of this mining area, located 4,300m (14,100ft) above sea level, cannot afford." (BBC News, 14 June) RD