Articles and News

Karoi, Zimbabwe--From the New York Times, this article by Ginanne Brownell offers a look at a female mining team, how they came into existence and the impact they are making.

From the article: 

Photo (top) shows women digging for aquamarine at Zimbaqua, a mine outside the small town of Karoi, Zimbabwe. (Image Credit: Iver Rosenkrantz/Zimbaqua via New York Times).

As Iver Rosenkrantz and Patrick Tendayi Zindoga drove through the fertile countryside of northern Zimbabwe one day in late 2018, they noticed something out of the ordinary: A woman who had just started plowing a field with a few oxen under the scorching sun was entirely on her own.

The business partners, who had recently acquired almost 125 acres nearby to mine aquamarine, took note because subsistence farmers rarely work alone, usually having the help of their children or other people. Several hours later, when they drove by the field again, they were impressed by her progress. “She’s so strong,” Mr. Rosenkrantz recalled thinking at the time, “she would put any man to shame.” 

Getting out of the car and conversing with the woman in a mix of English and Shona, a Bantu language spoken by local people, the men asked whether she might be interested in what they now market as Africa’s — and possibly the world’s — only mine to employ an entirely female work force.

Today Rutendo Chigwajara, a 42-year-old divorced mother of three, is the assistant mine manager at Zimbaqua, outside the small town of Karoi.

“At first I thought it was a dream,” she said with a chuckle during a recent video interview. “It is very exciting because these women who work in the mines are now able to pay school fees for their children and they can also look after themselves.” 

Click to read the full New York Times article here or on the link below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/fashion/jewelry-women-aquamarine-miners-zimbabwe.html