Congolese inventor creates wearable mining safety device

Описание: (1 Nov 2021) LEAD IN:
A young Congolese entrepreneur is hoping to tackle mortality rates in the country's mining industry with the help of a new mobile app.
It works in combination with a wearable safety belt to show a miner's location and even the temperature in the underground pit.

STORY-LINE:
Mining is crucial to the Democratic Republic of Congo's economy - known for its rich soil and mineral resources - but work in the mines can be dangerous. Accidents and landslides take dozens of lives every year.
Entrepreneur Victoire Shukuru knows people who died in the mines. So he has come up with an idea for the app, called "Min Security".
It's a tool that integrates GPS tracking technology with an electronic safety belt connected to a smartphone app.
Miners wear the belt around their waist and, as they go further underground to dig for minerals, managers can track their location for up to one kilometre into the pit.
This lets them to know the exact whereabouts of the miners in case of an emergency or landslide.
The mobile app also lets managers monitor the temperature underground and foresee any dangers, such as oxygen shortages.
A group of miners at Mutanga mine, in the Masisi region towards the northwest of the country, believes the app is an important invention that could save lives.
"If at a moment something dangerous were to happen to us down here, they will be alerted quickly on the other side and we will be saved," says 35-year-old miner Jean Tafazali, who digs for coltan, cassiterite and tourmaline.
Despite the dangers, men still take the risk as it provides an attractive income.
"Here on the site of Mutanga, we can find coltan," explains mine manager, Biyimana Habyarimana, who says he has six mouths to feed. "This helps us to live, we can buy cattle, fields to cultivate, cows, and we can build houses."
Shukuru says it was the deaths of people he knew that pushed him to action.
"Given that I am in the digital field, I said to myself I had to create a digital solution that can help our brothers who – for lack of other opportunities – resort to mining to find a means of survival," he says.
The mining activity allows them to earn money and feed their families, but the price for that is sometimes death.
Sebyera Riziki is a 32-year-old widow mother of five children who lives in Mutanga village.
"People continue to go to the mines even if they never stop collapsing and each time people die," she says.
Her husband died in a mine two years ago. She says it took a toll on her physical and mental health. His death left the family in financial hardship.
"I was very depressed because he would leave and come back with money to help our family. He is so missed, he disappeared down the mine," she says, seated outside her home with her children.
Hopefully, technology will mean fewer women like Riziki have to go through that pain.

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