All mine

Before 6am I was awoken by a lad bringing water for a bucket shower. I admit I sometimes forego these if I’ll get another shower by evening. However, I went for it as he’d been up at whatever time, filling pails. It was like the ALS Challenge viral video phenomenon, with less melodrama.

Today we had a very remote and very unusual visit to artesanal mining areas close to the Tanzania border in far north-western Niassa Province, so far north that signs appeared in Swahili. Interesting from a work perspective as the biggest environmental challenge facing this far corner of Mozambique is the prevalence of small-scale mining and its resulting impacts on river catchments and water quality. We saw some very carved up landscapes and muddy rivers due to the chemicals used to separate gold from its ore.

According to the statutes of one mining cooperative we met with in the village of Tulo, environmental sustainability is a key objective. So we are now wondering what we can do with the various mining associations in this region and in neighbouring Tanzania to promote forest restoration in areas where catchments have been carved up.

A productive day but one which required much driving. So the interesting visits were accompanied by about six hours of bashing my head on the hard bits of the car. The road was that bad type that quickly puts you into a head-bobbing slumber, with very little you can do about it.