Peace Society
I wonder if you have heard of Conflict Minerals? In the dreariest parts of last winter, I was coming back from class, and my roommate tells me that Hannah Enns came by and is looking for me. I have to confess that my very first thought was "Oh no, what crazy scheme is she trying to rope me into this time?" You see, earlier that term, she recruited me for an ‘Idle No More’ protest, where one moment I’m heading to the caf for some hot chocolate, and the next I’m walking down Charles street in Kitchener chanting “Hey hey, Ho ho, Steven Harper’s got to go!”. That was a new experience for me. She tracks me down later that evening, and starts to tell me about this acronym that she can never remember- CCF, no CIFC, ICC....Conflict Free Campus Initiative. So I'm thinking- well, I mean sometimes I get frustrated at my roommate, but it's not like there's a civil war on between the engineers and arts students- conflict free campus? So she starts telling me about how in Eastern Congo, two decades of civil war, the deadliest since World War 2, have created situation where militia groups control sections of the country, using any means necessary to stay in control. These areas’ primary industry is mining, especially gold, and these minerals are called tin, tungsten, and tantalum. Minerals from these mines are valued at tens of millions of dollars, and they are smuggled out of the country and smelted in east Asia to make everything from appliances to electronics. These electronics- cell phones, laptops, iPods, are bought by us consumers who have no idea that our gadgets are tainted by blood. So the idea is this: as a university, demand that electronics suppliers provide conflict free products, circuits welded with certified conflict free tin, vibrators with innocent tantalum. This will provide a consumer driven, market based approach to solving this problem. I thought about it a while, and asked "So let me get this straight- us, 2 students, get the entire university of Waterloo on board with policies to spend more money on electronics, which will in turn pressure electronics companies to create a conflict free product (which, by the way, doesn't exist yet), which will pressure Chinese suppliers to source their metals (because we all know the chinese export market is flexible), which will dry up the demand for metals from eastern Congo, dry up the budgets of the guerrilla groups, and finally free the people. It's that easy, eh?" I dismissed it as another crazy scheme, another petition to sign and stamp. But somehow it stayed with me. I found myself looking up the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and finding export graphs like this one. |
I traced these three T metals through the global supply chain, trying to figure out how I could possibly make a difference. I found RIM's responsible minerals policy, and wondered what one for Waterloo could look like.
The change came when I was reading this info pamphlet, sent by the Canadian organizers of the Conflict Free Initiative. I was zooming through graphs and pictures of sad children, reading about how to talk to university boards, when I came across a description of life in eastern Congo, and there it was, in unassuming 12 point times new roman; "Rape is used as a tool...." The change came when I was reading this info pamphlet, sent by the Canadian organizers of the Conflict Free Initiative. I was zooming through graphs and pictures of sad children, reading about how to talk to university boards, when I came across a description of life in eastern Congo, and there it was, in unassuming 12 point times new roman; "Rape is used as a tool...." I didn't even finish the sentence. It didn't matter what or why or how many....it was this reality, that this whole messed up system was run by people who used rape as a tool. And I'm hesitant to even use the word, because it devalues the intense emotion...a reality I don't even understand. But it wrecked me. I sat there just looking at six words...." And there's this realisation that I came to. Yes the problem is difficult. The solution is nigh unto impossible. It's political and economic and geographic and environmental-- changing a global supply chain for one of the fastest growing markets isn't easy. Since that moment last spring, I’ve read literally hundreds more pages of research. I’m a little more wary of linking cellphone use directly to sexual abuse, and I try to tell a more complete story about the conflict in Congo. I want to engage in a way that addresses the conflict, not just my guilt. Because for every hopeful solution there’s a hidden factor, a side effect that wasn’t thought through. It’s complicated and difficult. But more than all that- the problem is personal. It is about people. About kids who are forced to pick up a gun and shoot. About women whose lives will never be the same. About fathers who break their backs and rarely see the light of day. And that's difficult too- difficult to comprehend and difficult to live with. So my conclusion is this- it is a big and messy problem, and just one of many complicated issues- but aren’t the big complicated issues the ones that make life meaningful? If it wasn't so difficult, would we need to spend years learning how to solve it? So if you can, join us- let's start figuring it out. If not, find out what it is that you are passionate about, figure out what wrecks you and start doing something about it. Don't wait till you graduate, because there's not much time, and these problems are difficult. Jacob Winter, co-leader of Peace Society |