In its first year of existence the Guyana Women Miners Association (GWMA) rescued five women from the interior who were being exploited and with the assistance of members even assisted in sending one of the women’s sons overseas for a basketball tournament.
“When I say recued, I mean by us going into the interior and bringing them out…we have paid their expenses, we paid all their hotels, fed them and we ensured that they were back with their families safely,” President of the GWMA Simona Broomes told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.
She said one of the ladies who worked for months but was not paid, had a son who was selected to travel to Trinidad to play basketball, but because of his mother’s financial problem he could not make the trip, but members of the organisation “pooled money and gave to the child… and he was able to go to Trinidad.”
And the organisation also gave assistance to victims in four suspected cases of human trafficking; this included not only bringing the girls out, but also taking them to the hospital after some of them became ill, later handing them over to the Ministry of Human Services & Social Security.
“We did make headway when we talk about trafficking and issues with child labour…” Broomes said.
However, Broomes said they mobilized themselves with their own funding and had expected to get more support from the government after they applied for an area where they want to set up a mining community for women to provide a “model of women mining.”
However, the land is still not the GWMA’s and as such the excavator that was promised to assist in the training of women is still not a reality.
“But we would have expected by the end of year to have the licence for the property and to have a commitment with government…” in terms of how the model will take shape and other key issues ironed out, but that did not take place.
Knowing the number of women in mining the organisation felt that the government and private companies would have been happy to support them with the training, because during their outreach many women − including sex workers − have expressed the wish to be trained and work in other areas in the sector. But she said at least one sex worker had expressed scepticism about this, saying that as a prostitute she is already labelled and no one will want to train her.
Unfortunately, for this woman and others the training may not be a reality any time soon as Broomes said they have since met with Minister of Environment & Natural Resources Robert Persaud who has indicated that no training would be done until the mining school comes on stream.
The GWMA president feels that training of the women is critical to being able to create more job opportunities for them to help alleviate poverty.
“And I want to say that I am not only disappointed in government, I am also disappointed in parliament, all the political parties, in how we are treated as women in this country as miners,” she said.
However, Broomes said her group would continue to work to ensure that women are respected in the interior and called for the small miners to be given duty free concessions.
When the women miners launched their association last year Broomes said that they had hoped by the end of the year they would have had 250 women members, but by the end of the year they had over 400.
She said the fact that a large number of women have joined demonstrates that they have confidence in the group and this serves as a motivation to the executive.
The members are “proudly putting on” the organistaion’s t-shirt when they are going about their business because of the level of respect that is shown to the GWMA throughout the mining community.
During the year the GWMA collaborated with many local and international agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the US Embassy and the Hope Foundation in Bartica, among others.
Using its own funding, members of the group have visited all ten administrative regions, many of them on more than one occasion, and they have visited all the mining districts “at a high cost, big risk.”
Broomes pointed out that before the GWMA was launched information as it relates to women in the mining sector was limited.
“Many Guyanese did not know that women in mining are serious business women and not only prostitutes, and because of that we have made ourselves role models for [many] women and more women now are trying to get into the sector because that stigma is no longer there,” Broomes said.
She recalled not so long ago a woman who travelled to the interior would inform people that she was instead travelling to a nearby Caribbean country.
“They use to leave with suitcases and when they coming out they would buy a new suitcase, send an make two ear rings and so on and stop in Bartica and do their hair, dress and they come home with their [suitcases] as if they come from overseas,” the GWMA president disclosed.
But since the launch of the association, according to her, women are now boldly declaring that they are working in the interior and she said that this in itself is a big achievement for women.
“But we will continue, we would not stop until every woman, be it a prostitute or not, that enters the mining sector is given full and utmost respect by everyone…” she said. She said this and more gives the association much to boast about, and if she had the opportunity she would have been “at the top of every lamp-post and waving the yellow flag [the colour of the organisation].”
And the GWMA does not only look out for women but it also has an interest in the environment; and Broomes said during their visits they found that Bartica and Mahdia had serious garbage problems.
She said they selected Bartica to work in, and along with the inmates of the Mazaruni Prison did a massive clean-up of the community under the banner ‘The new look Bartica 2013,’ an initiative Broomes deemed successful. Over 60 people were involved in the exercise cleaning the streets of the community, which according to her does not even have a dumpsite.
While the new Interim Management Committee (IMC) was informed they did not participate, although the Ministry of the Environment & Natural Resources contributed some gloves and garbage bags. Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford was also part of the clean-up campaign.
