This piece is actually a series of articles by Peter Cahill from his main piece titled "A Diamond's Journey" talking about the mining business in Africa. The journey begins in Africa then extends into India and Europe; however, the articles read for this blog are only from the part of the journey which takes place in Africa.
Annually there are roughly 130 million carats mined out of Africa, which is about 65% of the world’s diamonds and worth approximately $8.4 million. Diamonds were originally found in Kimberley, South Africa. Needless to say it is a huge source of revenue for struggling countries, yet many claim it is only fueling the fire when it comes to war and crime. The fuel is the revenue from the diamonds which would often times go towards weapons and illegal activities that sparked more and increased warfare. The Kimberley Process Certification System was put into place in 2003. This had a huge impact on the illegally traded diamond revenues which were put towards those illegal acts because it tracked the diamond from the time it was pulled from the mine to the time it is sold as a ring. Now, 99% of diamonds are guaranteed to be from conflict-free sources. In order to get these diamonds, someone has to find them.
Working conditions in mines are very dangerous and often times offer low wages and long hours. Botswana is known to be the area with the best mining conditions but 37% of their population is ruled with HIV/AIDS. That is where Debswana Diamond Co. comes in. Debswana is the first company in the world to provide antiretroviral drugs to all its employees. Furthermore in Botswana the revenue from diamonds has helped pave roads, build schools, and move the country from one of the poorest “to a middle-income economy with a developed infrastructure and one of the most progressive health care strategies on the continent tackling the scourge of HIV/AIDS” (Cahill, 2007). So, even though the revenue has done a lot to aid the warfare it has also done a lot to improve the economy as well.
One thing I found myself wondering when I first began to read was, if this was such a big part of Africa, how come the money from the diamonds found wasn’t helping the countries prosper as much as one might expect. That question was later answered but it was fascinating to hear how Botswana has improved their way of life. It was hard to imagine young adults and young children going to work in these mines, especially in the poor conditions. Many times the children would only get milk once a week. Something I thought of when I read this article was the trading triangle between Europe, Africa, and the U.S. during the Atlantic Slave trade. The process begins in Africa where the diamonds are mined, then they move to India where they are cut and polished. Then the diamonds arrive in Europe or the U.S. where they are sold.
I actually stumbled upon this article by accident. It originally appeared as a video and once I clicked it a series of articles appeared. There is so much interesting information. I was very happy to see that I finally found something that wasn’t somehow based on warfare or destruction in an African country. Unfortunately I couldn’t summarize a lot of the information that is left in the articles because there is just so much incorporated into them with videos, pictures, and more links. If you have a chance I would definitely check out this link: MSNBC because there are so many good pictures, personal stories, and further information about the journey of the diamonds mined in Africa.
Annually there are roughly 130 million carats mined out of Africa, which is about 65% of the world’s diamonds and worth approximately $8.4 million. Diamonds were originally found in Kimberley, South Africa. Needless to say it is a huge source of revenue for struggling countries, yet many claim it is only fueling the fire when it comes to war and crime. The fuel is the revenue from the diamonds which would often times go towards weapons and illegal activities that sparked more and increased warfare. The Kimberley Process Certification System was put into place in 2003. This had a huge impact on the illegally traded diamond revenues which were put towards those illegal acts because it tracked the diamond from the time it was pulled from the mine to the time it is sold as a ring. Now, 99% of diamonds are guaranteed to be from conflict-free sources. In order to get these diamonds, someone has to find them.
Working conditions in mines are very dangerous and often times offer low wages and long hours. Botswana is known to be the area with the best mining conditions but 37% of their population is ruled with HIV/AIDS. That is where Debswana Diamond Co. comes in. Debswana is the first company in the world to provide antiretroviral drugs to all its employees. Furthermore in Botswana the revenue from diamonds has helped pave roads, build schools, and move the country from one of the poorest “to a middle-income economy with a developed infrastructure and one of the most progressive health care strategies on the continent tackling the scourge of HIV/AIDS” (Cahill, 2007). So, even though the revenue has done a lot to aid the warfare it has also done a lot to improve the economy as well.
One thing I found myself wondering when I first began to read was, if this was such a big part of Africa, how come the money from the diamonds found wasn’t helping the countries prosper as much as one might expect. That question was later answered but it was fascinating to hear how Botswana has improved their way of life. It was hard to imagine young adults and young children going to work in these mines, especially in the poor conditions. Many times the children would only get milk once a week. Something I thought of when I read this article was the trading triangle between Europe, Africa, and the U.S. during the Atlantic Slave trade. The process begins in Africa where the diamonds are mined, then they move to India where they are cut and polished. Then the diamonds arrive in Europe or the U.S. where they are sold.
I actually stumbled upon this article by accident. It originally appeared as a video and once I clicked it a series of articles appeared. There is so much interesting information. I was very happy to see that I finally found something that wasn’t somehow based on warfare or destruction in an African country. Unfortunately I couldn’t summarize a lot of the information that is left in the articles because there is just so much incorporated into them with videos, pictures, and more links. If you have a chance I would definitely check out this link: MSNBC because there are so many good pictures, personal stories, and further information about the journey of the diamonds mined in Africa.
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