KOIDU (Sierra Leone): Under the watchful eye of security guards, boys and girls dig for diamonds in illegal mines of eastern Sierra Leone to pay for their own schooling and put food on the family table.

Some children as young as 10 walk several kilometres a day to attend school and work in dilapidated mining pits under scorching heat, lured by money from mine owners who keep the gems.

“We provide the money and get these boys to work for their living. Is it not a fair deal?” said the Senegalese owner of one mine.

Government figures put the number of underage miners at more than 600, but experts here say the real number could be three times higher.

“We work on commission where we go to the pits after school and get about 3,000 leones (one dollar) after four to five hours work digging and sifting for diamonds,” a 10-year-old girl told AFP.

“For us this is a huge sum. It enables us to pay school fees, buy textbooks and have meals for a couple of days.”

Many of the kids in the mines are working to pay for their schooling, said social welfare worker Mariama Sesay.

“We have been trying to get them off the mines but so far it has been an uphill struggle. The illegal miners are tempting them with money and promising them paradise on Earth,” she said, shaking her head in disgust.

Many of the children do not dare to speak to strangers “for fear of losing their job,” she said.

The child miners are watched by illegal guards who keep a close eye on them to make sure they do not hide or swallow the gems they find.

“We work in a gang of mostly seven to 12 year olds. Sometimes we find diamonds, but these are quickly snatched from us by the guards,” said Lansana, a 10-year-old who says he is already a veteran miner of two years.

“We get nothing from the sales. We are told we are employed only to dig and sift. Whatever is found is no concern of ours.”

Although child labour is illegal in Sierra Leone, the legislation is poorly enforced and the police can sometimes be bribed.

Many of the children also say that they must work because their families are simply too poor to support them.

“I would go to bed hungry if I miss one day (of digging),” said Momodu, who goes to an Islamic secondary school in Koidu.

“My father died during the civil war (in 2000) and my mother resides in Kenema (also in the east), but she is poor and could not pay my school fees. I decided to come to Koidu so that I can earn some money.”

An estimated 120,000 people were killed and thousands more had their limbs hacked off in Sierra Leone’s gruesome 1991-2001 civil war, which was fuelled by so-called “blood diamonds” used to pay for weapons.

Sierra Leone is among the participants of the Kimberley Process, an international initiative that requires members to certify shipments of rough diamonds as “conflict-free”.

Momodu walks six kilometres from his house in the small town of Sefadu to Koidu every day to attend classes in the morning.

“I am always tired and sleep mostly during classes. After school, I take off my school uniform and head for the mines wearing tattered clothes,” he said.

“It’s an ordeal. Sometimes, there are tragedies. The pits would cave in and some of my friends would be buried by the avalanche.”

The illegal mine owners pay hush money to the children to stop them reporting such accidents, he said.

“At other times, the police will raid the mines, arrest some of us but the mine owners will buy out our release,” Momodu said.

The government of Sierra Leone has teamed up with international organisations such as the International Rescue Commission (IRC) to try to get the children out of the mines, but the task is difficult.

“The initiative is designed to help kids attend school regularly, but regrettably many of them still sneak to the mines,” said an IRC worker who requested anonymity.—AFP