Ric Francis

GOLDEN SLUM

Extreme poverty is a way of life in La Rinconada, a shantytown 17,000 feet above sea-level in the high Andes of Peru. It has been said, Peru is a beggar seated on a throne of gold. Well, in the case of this mining community the throne is one of gold and human waste. Its citizens endure life in what is probably the dirtiest shanty community at the highest altitude in the world. It has no running water, no sewage system and its grounds are contaminated by mercury used to separate rock from gold. Unpaved streets provide transit for stench-filled mud and there is no escape from the foul smell. Criminals on the run from the law are attracted to the area because there is no police presence. Many of the 30,000 Peruvians who call La Rinconada home lack basic educational skills. Most are employed under an ancient lottery system - and verbal contract - called cachorreo, in which they work for 30 days without pay. On the 31st day they receive payment in the form of a sack of ore, which may or may not contain gold. It's a cruel lottery that can lead to indentured servitude. Life expectancy in La Rinconada is the lowest in Peru. The likelihood of death is echoed in a local saying, “off to work I go, I don't know if I'll make it back.” The area's population growth, fueled by the unemployed, indicates there are many willing to tolerate the abuses of La Rinconada ensuring the ancient lottery will continue to be played.

Ultimately the gold will adorn the fingers and necks of the not so poor far removed from the harshness of La Rinconada. The beggar will be left to inhale the foul air and withstand the severe cold, while working in pits where one can hardly stand. Perched penniless atop the golden throne the beggar will watch as his children play in or near garbage and contaminated mud, breathing the toxins of mercury that has evaporated into the air.

Workers build a hostel that will be used to house the many new miners moving to the area. The citizens of La Rinconada endure life in what is probably the dirtiest community at the highest altitude in the world. It has no running water, no sewage system and its grounds are contaminated by mercury used to separate rock from gold.
  
Miners pull excavation equipment up a hill. Many are employed under an ancient lottery system called cachorreo in which they work 30 days without pay. On the 31st day they receive payment in the form of a sack of ore, which may or may not contain gold.
  
A miner carries a load of beer for his colleagues in the mountains. Included in the numerous problems that plague the area is alcoholism.
     
  
A miner pounds ore in search of gold.
  
Nancy Avila, 29, right, chews coca leaves while Hilda Cahuana, 40, grinds ore in search of gold. While coca leaves may help one survive the high elevation there is nothing to provide relief from the horrible smell resulting from the bad sanitary conditions.
  
A miner enters an ice tunnel inside a mine.
     
  
A miner ventures into a mine.
  
A miner rushes to check an ore transport machine.
  
Miners dump a container of ore that has been examined for gold.
     
  
A beautiful sky paints the horizon over a shanty mining community at La Rinconada. It's citizens endure life in what is probably the dirtiest community at the highest altitude in the world.
   
Indigenous women walk through the streets of what is probably the dirtiest community at the highest altitude in the world. It's a city in Peru's high Andes and is 17,000 feet above sea-level. Its unpaved streets provide transit for stench-filled mud.
   
Martin Luque Vargas, 40, right, and his mother Filicitas Luque Vargas, 58, examine a sack of ore for gold. Martin moved his three children and his mother to the area in July 2008 after he lost his job - because of the recession - as a traffic controller in a nearby district.
     
  
A miner displays gold-flecked ore.
  
A miner siphons water from an underground cave in the mountains so that it can be excavated for gold.
  
An indigenous woman washes clothes as a miner returns from the mountains.
     
  
Anderson Romero, 5, plays in the street outside his home as a woman walks through stench-filled mud.
  
Miners leaving the mountains make their way through a pathway of garbage. The horrendous sanitary conditions result from the unregulated disposal of garbage and human waste.