A 63-year-old widow from Alaska, Chinhoyi, has spent decades battling the gruelling demands of artisanal quarry stone mining just to survive.
With no support from the government, Gogo Nyarai Pariche was left to fend for herself after a road traffic accident claimed her husband’s life in 1988.
She said she had no other choice, describing the backbreaking work of quarry mining that has become her lifeline.
Day after day, she chips and hauls stones, putting every ounce of strength into providing for her family and making ends meet. Said Gogo Pariche:
“When my husband died in 1988 in a road accident, I had nothing. I had no formal job, which meant no income, but the children needed to eat and go to school.
“I told myself that if men could break stones, then so could I, to survive with my children.
“This work is painful. Sometimes the stones cut you, sometimes they fall on your feet.
“But the worst is when we sell to middlemen who give us almost nothing. They take our sweat.”
Her relative, Modesta Pariche, also an artisanal miner, said they sell 12 full wheelbarrows for US$25. She said:
“Our mother, as we call her here, showed us that even if life is hard, women can still provide.
“We are learning from her strength. Staying at home is not an option. We need to take care of our families.
“We sell a tonne equivalent of 12 full wheelbarrows for US$25, but most of the time, we are crooked by middlemen who approach our clients by the road before they see us.”
More: ZBC News
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