Just when I thought the night had ended and the day would stretch before me in unabated comfort, I found myself shifting from the nightmare into the torture chambers of parasomnia and the taunting rattling sounds produced by its shackles. Cruelty echoed when I suddenly came across a video of some kids about ten years engaging in galamsey on a cocoa farm. The obstinacy with which the kids shove up the earth for gold was definite, like a wild boar rooting for prey while under the watch of unbothered adults. What a failed society we have strived to become.
Why Are Children in Galamsey?
Poverty is the clearest reason. Galamsey is the new “pocket no dry,” making it an optimum choice for many families in the mining communities. With galamsey promising them a better way to sustain their homes, school becomes a nuisance to both parents and children. Similarly, some children trapped in the enticement of the small amounts they make, come to believe galamsey is better choice when compared to school which promises no future securities. Poverty is the backbone of the choice of pushing children into galamsey by these impoverished families.
Is destitute enough reason to justify exposing children to such dangerous activities? Don’t you think children belong in school? Yet, we have them in galamsey pits.
The Dangers to Children’s Health and their Development
Galamsey sites are death traps. Children are exposed to several risks over there. They are susceptible to physical injuries and death from collapsing mining pits. Also, it is stated by the World Health Organization that children are at higher risk of suffering the effects of mercury. However, the frequent exposure of the children to toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide do not only damage the nervous system but affects the kidneys, and lungs, too.
Obviously, these children do not face only health issues. Their physical and mental development is hindered due to the heavy loads they carry, working extended hours and breathing of dust during the process of working.
Clearly, allowing children to involve themselves in galamsey is a complete sacrifice of their health and growth for interim gains.
A Loss to Education
The loss of education is conceivably the utmost damaging effect on a child involved in galamsey. While they spend their entire time in muddy pit searching for gold, their mates are in the classroom acquiring skills and knowledge. Introducing them to galamsey is a farewell bid to the classroom. The terrors of it transcends robbing tomorrow of its workforce to securing a future with no innovators or leaders to preserve and sustain the environment.
Long-Term Social Consequences
While we can make quick money from galamsey, it is consequentially explosive to long-term livelihood. When these children grow up without education, they are left at the mercies of low-income and unsafe jobs. The cycle of poverty continues. Uneducatedness is synonymous to no skill. And what is a country without a skill? The progress of a nation depends on skill and education, therefore, if these children grow up with no education or skill, it sets Ghana on the path of retrogression; no innovation, no growth.
The Role of Adults in this Menace
Child safety, guidance, and socialization is ensured by parents and the society. Howbeit, the same society has borne adults who are indifferent from the children in the video and that, perhaps, is agonizing. Their inability to protect the children is a failure on their part.
These adults become worse examples, corrupting the children’s good values, and degenerating into a generation admiring illegal activities at the expense of the nation’s well-being.
Conclusion
The children are the future, therefore; the government must create awareness and enforce stricter child labor laws to punish people who exploit children for financial gains. Of course, the community’s involvement is crucial to curtail this problem. Traditional leaders and the entire community should protect children and teach them the value of education over the brief smiles galamsey will offer.
Moreover, presenting schools in mining areas with education coupled with opportunities will do better. Creating an atmosphere that gives more opportunities through diverse activities apart from encountering teachers, strict academic works and physical structures will whet their appetite for school. The involvement of underage children in galamsey should haunt us as a country, remolding our thoughts. The country is dependent on the youth and children hence, the involvement of children in galamsey cripples the country. This symbolizes the theft of the country’s future. Let us protect the children for a healthy nation.
Article by
NII LAMPTEY KLOKPAH
Nii Lamptey Klokpah holds a degree in Political Studies from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. With a deep interest in innovation, technology, agriculture, and philosophy, he is driven in a firm belief that Africa’s future must be shaped by its own people through inclusive, forward-thinking approach. He is currently a policy scholar at the YAFO Institute.
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