Lan men nanu def?

While I understand the importance of sharing my results with government officials and NGOs, I feel that the real value lies in sharing it with the community members who are directly impacted by mining and mercury.  I thus spent the final two weeks of my trip to Senegal traveling to mining villages.

Each morning, Falaye and I would walk to the market to buy a bag of kola nuts – these are given to hosts as a sign of respect and are essential to establishing ourselves appropriately according to Senegalese tradition.  We then continued to the car stand, where we’d find a car traveling to our set destination.  In Senegal, there are no public transportation schedules; you arrive at the car stand, buy a ticket for the car, and wait for the rest of the seats to fill up.  There are 7 places, but sometimes 9 or 10 people are assigned places before the car leaves.  The best bet is to arrive around 8 or 9 and then be prepared to hang out for up to a few hours before the car is ready to go.

On one particular morning, we arrived at the car stand looking for a car only to learn that no car would be going that day – the normal store stock delivery (foods, toiletries, etc.) that helps to finance the car had not arrived and thus the driver did not want to spend the gas money to get there.  The two of us, along with two other passengers who were waiting for the same destination, offered to rent a car – we would buy the extra four places in the car.  At first, they wanted to charge us extra for renting the car, but we bargained them back to the normal fees, with each of us paying for two seats.  Once this had been decided, someone was sent to the other car stand to get a car.  Thinking this was the car we’d take, we all got in.  Instead, it brought us to the second car stand where the driver knocked on the window of another car.  It was 10 in the morning, but this other driver was still sound asleep in the back of his car.  He woke up, agreed to take us there, and then set about his morning routine: washing his face, praying, rearranging the items in his car, tinkering around under the hood, pouring water over the tires.  Finally, after almost an hour, he told us to get in the car.  We all piled in and four men pushed the car down the block until we reached a downhill section for him to start the car’s motor.  We were off…until we reached the carshop down the road.  He pulled over, we all got out, and we waited while they adjusted the tires, tinkered under the hood, and did some other adjustments.  Finally, at almost noon, we were all in the car and being pushed down the road one more time.  We were off, down the paved road for an hour and then down a dirt road for another hour, until the car started making strange sounds.  We pulled over, all piled out, and the driver again tinkered with the tires and under the hood.  He finally decided we could make it the five kilometers to the next town where there was a carshop, if we drove slowly.  So we continued down the dirt road, stopped at the carshop, waited for the car to be fixed, and then continued on our way.  Soon after, we reached a police checkpoint.  We were all asked to show our ids and explain where we were going.  One man did not have his id, and we had to wait while he spoke with the police, gave them some money, and then we continued on our way.  Finally, around 2, we reached the village.

Falaye had tried to call his contact in the village the day before to alert him that we’d be coming, but had been unable to get through.  Upon arriving in the village, we realized this was because cell phone reception was out.  Luckily, everyone knows everyone, so we asked someone on the street who pointed out his contact’s compound.  We arrived there, greeted everyone in the family, and were asked to sit down for a bit.  Falaye explained that we were there to present the results of my research to members of the community.  So his contact brought us to the village chief’s house and introduced us.  Falaye presented him with the kola nuts and some money to buy sodas for the meeting.  We then waited while the chief’s son called together the imam (religious leader) and other members of the community.

Finally, the chief told us it was time to start.  As I couldn’t speak the local language (and since it’s better for information on such a controversial issue to come from a local Senegalese rather than a foreigner), Falaye led the conversation.  He introduced himself and explained why we were there.  He then had me introduce myself (which he translated into Bambara).

Falaye then began the discussion, running it as a question and answer session rather than a lecture.  He started by asking what they knew about mercury.  Invariably, they explained the benefits of using it for gold processing – it was easy to use, cheap to obtain, and was effective at recovering gold.  One man demonstrated the process of adding mercury and how small balls of gold-mercury amalgams could be squeezed into one larger ball using a piece of cloth.  An older man was quick to add that mercury hadn’t always been used in the mines – the technique was brought by men from Burkina Faso in the early 2000s.  Falaye then asked them if they knew why mercury was bad to use.  There was silence.  The chief finally spoke up that they’d been told it was bad, but had never seen anyone sick from the mercury.  When asked the symptoms of mercury toxicity, however, they didn’t know.  Falaye began to explain, and I searched the faces of a few men with trembling hands (a sign of mercury toxicity) to see their reaction.  They remained composed, but were suddenly concerned and curious as to why they’d never been diagnosed as such.  (The response: the hospital and local health post did not know the symptoms of mercury toxicity either.)  Falaye then went on to explain the results of my research – people can be exposed to mercury both from the aquatic system (e.g., water, fish) and the terrestrial system (e.g., soil, crops, vegetables).

Next, they asked us: “Lan men nanu def?” (“What can we do?”).  Falaye turned the question on them – asking for their suggestions of solutions.  And this is the part that always amazed me.  When we met with government officials and NGOs and asked them the same question, they responded that they didn’t know of a solution and that we should tell them what to do.  But when we met with the villagers, they always had ideas of possible solutions to reduce their exposure and of how they could be reinforced.  The solutions ranged from making protective equipment (masks, gloves) available in the local markets, to establishing a place far from the village where everyone would burn the mercury, and to imposing a fine for the burning of mercury without the use of a retort (cover that captures 80-90% of the mercury emitted) that would be enforced by the locally elected and well-respected mining police.  After these solutions were proposed, we were asked again what we thought.  Falaye would translate for me at this point to allow me to give my opinion.  I supported their ideas.  Eliminating the use of mercury is difficult without an alternative; until one is found, the solutions they proposed seemed effective pathways to reduce human exposure.

We allowed them time to ask us questions.  Usually, after about an hour, everyone had had the opportunity to speak, we asked them to share this information with others in their community, and we were thanked by the village chief.  We then stood up, grabbed lunch, and waited for a car to fill up and bring us back to Kedougou.

Gis nana jen bu dey

                In Kedougou – the regional capital – it is much easier than Dakar to meet with local officials.  We walk into offices, announce our desire to share results, and wait our turn.  Sometimes, we wait a few minutes.  Sometimes, we wait over an hour (for example, while the Director of Mines bargained with a woman about the price of land).  Most places are located within the town, and we walk from place to place.  For another, we borrow a motorcycle and Falaye (my partner here) drives us the 20 minutes along a dirt road to meet with an official there.  (We arrive completely covered in dust, and I accidentally flash – aka, my skirt rides high above my knees – the official as I dismount.)

                While many of the local authorities are aware that mercury is harmful, they also have many misconceptions:

11)      “Mercury is legal.”  I listened as the chief of the hospital described the trucks full of mercury that constantly pass by the police.  But mercury is, in fact, illegal in Senegal.  Senegal is a signatory of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which was signed a few years ago and went into effect this past August.  The trade of mercury is forbidden by this Convention.

22)      “People can be poisoned by mercury by bathing in water near artisanal gold mining.”  This source of exposure was listed by nearly everyone we met with.  But this is, in fact, not possible.  Mercury in water is dangerous because its concentration increases across the food web – small amounts in water lead to larger amounts in small fish and huge amounts in large fish (that eat many small fish and accumulate the mercury).  While it is good that they think mercury is dangerous, they do not properly understand how people are exposed to it.

33)      “Gis nana jen bu dey” (We’ve seen dead fish: “Dead fish are washing ashore due to mercury poisoning.”)  This was stated by the local governor (sous prefet) overseeing the mining region.  This is, in fact, highly unlikely.  While fish are accumulating high concentrations of mercury, the quantity is likely not high enough to kill the fish.  In fact, fish are generally not susceptible to mercury toxicity, but birds, mammals, and people eating them are.  Even then, it is more likely that mercury toxicity symptoms will slowly appear, rather than sudden death.  Fish are likely dying from other toxins entering the water near these areas.

44)      “The authorities already know that mercury is in the water and soils due to artisanal gold mining.”  About half of the people we met with made this claim, stating that what was needed was a solution, not more proof of what was already proven.  The other half knew the reality – my research is the first proof in the world that mercury in soil near artisanal gold mining has high levels of the more toxic and bioavailable (able to be taken up by organisms) form of mercury known as methylmercury.  While it may have been assumed before, some people sympathizing with the miners’ use of mercury vehemently disagreed that mercury was in any form other than the liquid elemental mercury.  Thus, my research shows otherwise.

55)      “Senegal has developed viable solutions to mercury use in artisanal gold mining.”  This was claimed by a few government officials and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Dakar and Kedougou.  While I wish this were true, conversations with people who have gone into the field to actually visit the mining sites and talk to the miners have shown this to be a fallacy.

There have certainly been attempts to devise methods of artisanal gold mining with reduced mercury use.  For example, for the past few years, some NGOs have distributed retorts.  These are essentially covers that are placed on top of the stove where the mercury-gold amalgam is burned.  As the mercury evaporates, it is caught by the cover and condenses, reducing the loss of mercury to the atmosphere.  However, miners are loathe to use this because it takes longer than traditional methods and they are distrustful – the gold buyer might be cheating them since they can’t see what is happening but see their mercury-gold ball shrinking in size.

Another attempted method is mercury-free processing of gold.  The government has invested in a large, expensive machine that makes this possible and claims that people are using it.  However, while people are using it, they use it for pre-mercury steps, then take their solution back to their village to add mercury and continue with the mercury amalgamation process, thereby completing bypassing the objective of the government-funded equipment.

Finally, the third solution I heard (which astounded me) was the use of cyanide as a substitute for mercury.  I listened as a local NGO La Lumiere explained that cyanide is preferable since it photodegrades and can’t be transported in the atmosphere. And, cyanide is already used sometimes by people from Burkina Faso to recover even more gold after mercury is used, so it is easy to obtain.  But this opens a new can of worms.  Cyanide is even more toxic than mercury at small concentrations, posing huge concerns for humans and animals if ingested.  If it’s not contained (as it likely won’t be), cyanide can leak into groundwater and rivers.  Thus, in a few years, there’d be a movement to stop cyanide use rather than mercury.  This is not a safe solution.

This is not to say that all government officials and NGOs in Senegal have all of these misconceptions or that they even have any of them.  But, in order to eliminate the use of mercury in artisanal gold mining, to properly educate community members, and to find a solution to the current mercury problem, it is important to address these misconceptions.

Leegi, men nanu wone nit nu ci mercure bi ci environnement bi

I have spent the past two weeks sharing the results of my research with Senegalese authorities and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in Dakar.  The process of meeting with officials in these government ministries is not as simple as it may seem.  First, it relies upon knowing the name of who you want to speak with and having someone introduce you.

              Fortunately, I am accompanied on my Dakar wanderings by a close friend – Mor.  He works in the government (though in the northern part of Senegal, on the border with Mauritania) and has many contacts in Dakar.  So, after he spends an afternoon calling friends, getting more phone numbers, and making some more calls, we are set to go.  Some officials require us to first deposit an official request for a meeting, but others tell us to just stop by.

              We begin with the Ministry of the Environment.  We wait for his friend outside the building – though the work day officially begins at 8 am, most people don’t arrive until 9 or 10 (then leave again for a pause at 1 or 2, maybe returning again at 4 to work another hour or two).  When his friend arrives, we follow her in.  Mor gives her a bag of clothes he’s bought to thank her for assisting us, thereby spurring her to go out of her way to ensure we have the meetings we want.  We sit down and talk for a bit, then she knocks on some doors, and presents us for a meeting with her director.

              Ibra Ndiaye is glad to greet us. He has heard of mercury use in artisanal gold mining, but doesn’t know much about it.  Mor introduces us both in French, then leaves me to launch into an explanation of my research in Wolof (which I’m more comfortable speaking than French).  I explain how mercury is used by the miners (to isolate gold), how it’s burned off into the atmosphere, how mercury in the form of methylmercury is especially dangerous, and how I’ve found high amounts of methylmercury not just in water (where it had previously been expected to be) but also in soil.  This then poses an additional source of exposure either through direct consumption of soil (by eating soil or from dust blowing onto food) or through the entry into the terrestrial food chain of crops, vegetables, and livestock.  The Director listens, asks some questions, then tell us we should meet with his Director who oversees the Ministry’s work on mercury.  She’s not there, so we leave a note requesting a meeting and move on to the next office.

              At the Water and Forests Division, the Director is very excited to learn about our results.  He immediately calls a meeting of all Lieutenants present, and I launch once more into my explanation.  They are saddened to hear about the large amount of mercury contamination but see this as parallel with their mission of reducing deforestation from artisanal gold mining – not only does artisanal gold mining destroy forests, but also poses a huge threat to environmental and human health.  Their next humble question puts me back into place.  They want to know what solution I propose.  I explain the importance of education for mining communities through conversations about the dangers of mercury.  Mercury usage will only decline if the miners choose to stop using it.  I unfortunately can’t offer them any advice regarding the mercury capture retorts or mercury-free mining processing techniques that have been proposed by some governments and NGOs.  While I wish I had a better response, I can only elaborate that I am a scientist, providing the with the data, so that they can act accordingly.  But they’ve taught me an important lesson – I have the ear of policymakers who are concerned about the scientific data I am presenting.  While informing them is important, this is an opportunity to suggest changes in policy and something that I should consider next time before having these conversations.

              My meetings continue in this matter of one-on-one or group meetings as I talk with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Protected Lands, Oxfam International, World Vision, Artisanal Gold Council, Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Africa, and some university professors.  They read over my short summary report, one or two skim the long manuscript, and they comment that mercury is really bad and a problem.  The most common response is appreciation.  They know mercury is bad, but this is the first proof they have – as Maimona Diene from the Pesticide Action Network Africa said, “Leegi, men nanu wone nit nu ci mercure bi ci environnement bi!” (Now we can actually show that mercury is entering the environment), which they couldn’t before.  According to the Minamata Convention on Mercury which went into effect in August, they must create a National Action Plan to reduce mercury use in Senegal.  I’ve now met with all the major players – all I can hope is that my results will better inform the decisions they make and will trickle down to improving the health of mining communities.

              My next step – on to educating the public.  I was already ushered onto a tv set to share my results with whomever tuned into the 7 pm news.  Now, I’m on my way to the gold mining region in southeastern Senegal to spread the information there.