Blood in the Mobile Page #3

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-You see this.

-What is that?

-Oh, its you, right?

-Its me.

-And you se here.

-Ah, thats very nice.

-You are a Masai.

-Yes, a Masai.

Its my son, who sent it to me.

You know, in the war-

-you have one aim. It is to kill!

Its much easier to do administration in a war than in peace.

Its easier when its war than in peace?

Yes!

Because you have to feed the soldiers.

They dont do anything. They are only there.

And they must eat. They must drink.

They must wear....You must give them a uniform.

But in a war he kills the enemy, and then he gests his uniform.

He kills the enemy, he gets boots. And a gun.

-Have you been at war, fighting?

-Yes, yes.

This is for when Im going to war.

Then I must go whith this.

This is my blanket.

If you want peace, you must prepare for war.

I keep this for the rain. This I got in Uganda.

This one I got from Libya. Its a kind of uniform.

-I keep them.

-Youve got many.

Yes! See. a good uniform. Its a nice uniform.

-Have you seen my signature?

-Yes...

-Its beautiful. It has a star in it.

-Yes, you have...Yes.

Finally Im on board one of the small russian cargo planes-

-that transports minerals from Walikale to Goma.

Were going to land on a small piece of road in the middle of the jungle.

Is it safe to fly this trip?

Yes, its safe.

-Do you know where this comes from?

-No.

And then Im stuck again.

Also here I have to visit the local authorities.

But it is weekend, so I have to wait for Monday morning.

I hear a rumour about a boy-

-who ran away from the Bisie mine during the massacre last week.

His name is Chance, hes 16, and hes worked at the Bisie mine for 3 years.

I heard that a mine had been discovered-

-close to where I live.

I wanted to work and earn enough to build my own house.

The first time I crawled down the hole-

-I could not stay for very long.

I wasnt used to the heat, so I could only stay for 2 hours down there.

Again and again I had to go down, work a lot and then come up again.

It was very hot, and I couldnt handle it.

But I didnt achieve my dream-

-so now I came back to finish school.

I acquire the local authorities validation of my permits.

They are also involved and have some authority over the armed groups.

Their stamps serve as a security from some of the groups I might run into.

If Im going to film in the mine, it has to be quick in, quick out.

I need someone who knows the place well. I go to look for Chance.

Go the other way around, Adam.

Chance isnt there, but his mother invited me to in.

The reason were interested in Chance is that he came from Bisie.

Did he tell you about his experiences there?

As a mother I thank Good every day-

-that Chance wasnt killed in Bisie.

It was Gods will that he survived.

I see that you talked to the administration.

Yes, and we also talked to your mother. For a long time.

And she agreed that you can come whith us to Bisie.

-Im ready.

-Hes ready at any time.

I begin to get a feeling of how big the mine in Bisie must be.

These carriers have walked 90 kilometers in two days with 50 kilos.

Every day 600 carriers come out of the woods with 30 tons of minerals.

When youve gotten your money, move along!

The carriers warn us: There are many soldiers on the road to Bisie.

They advise us to take another path, so we go on the bikes for two hours-

-and then we start to walk.

From here its two days on foot to Bisie.

How do you like it?

Its good.

After some hard days we reach the path that carriers use.

Were right outside the mine now.

The 85. brigade currently controlling the mine is a Congolese army unit-

-that has gone solo and is operating completely on their own.

In front of us the soldiers have a check-point which we cant avoid.

To get to the mine we have to pass it-

-and we have no idea how the soldiers will react.

-Good morning. How are you?

-Im fine. And you?

He is a journalist from Denmark-

-making a documentary about the extraction of minerals.

Weve got all the permits.

Dont let the white man pass without paying 1000 francs. Leave me alone!

We got a permit in Goma from the ministry and military autohorities.

The white man always laughed at us! He calles us monkeys!

In Walikale we talked to the territory authorities and colonel Samy.

And in Biruwe we talked to the commander of the battalion.

How many are you?

-Four persons.

-Ok.

Give me money. You cant film me for nothing.

Give me money!

1000 francs. Give me 1000 francs.

So this is how the armed groups make money on the mining.

The let the local population do the hard work

-and then they impose taxes on everyone.

And to get in and out of the mining area you also have to pay money.

Give me money! You cant film me for nothing.

Now I have arrived. Finally Im here.

This is what Ive been looking for.

In this place people die, so we can get mobile phones.

This mountain is full of improvised mine shafts.

And I get the feeling that the mountain could collapse at any moment.

Five years ago this place was only jungle.

Today 15-25000 people work here.

-How old are you? -Me? Im 14.

People come from far away whith a dream of making money.

But living expenses are so high due to the taxes from the armed groups-

-that most people cant afford to get out again. Theyre trapped here.

Hey, white man. Hes here to see how we got into the holes.

Were going to the hole over there.

-Chance, is this where you live? -No, this is the house.

They came here and started shooting.

People died here. Bullets were flying around, and the pharmacist died.

-The pharmacy over there? -Yes, they killed him.

And the police commander also died.

-Where did the bomb detonate? -Over there. But we ran away.

The mine wich Chance worked in, is almost 100 meters deep.

Chance says it takes so long to crawl down and up again-

-that he sometimes stayed down there for a week before coming up.

Every month people die here, when one of these holes collapses.

Hello, sir. How are you?

Coming down here...And whith a camera?

Dont do this. I dont like it.

You coming here to film me. Youre looking for trouble.

I can break it!

Have I given you permission to film me?

Why are you filming me?

Watch out! Im going to smash it!

Why are you filming me?

Im just doing my job. Did I ever ask to him to film me?

Is it some kind of punishment that youre filming here?

Did they pay you to bring the camera down here?

Chance, bring the hammer. Get the diggers.

Youre lucky. Bring the carriers.

You have to come down here. The cassiterite is right down here.

Why are you filming?

-Have you found anything? -Yes, right next to Chance.

Chance, you are a slave of the white man.

Hey, stupid! You cant film here.

Chance, do you know its illegal for childen under age to work the mine?

-Yes. -This country is dead anyway.

-Is this cassiterite? -Yes.

Is this really so different from what happened under king Leopold?

Isnt this almost the same as slavery?

Ive just been in one mine. And there are hunreds all over East Congo.

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