| No Dirty Gold Honors Mothers Affected by Mining Every day is Mother's Day at the No Dirty Gold campaign!
Sign the pledge to end dirty gold mining
Help us honor mothers around the world affected by mining by reading their stories and signing the No Dirty Gold pledge to end dirty mining.
Honor all mothers affected by dirty mining
-- send a Mother's Day ePostcard
 If you have already signed the pledge (and even if you haven't), you can honor these mothers -- and Mother Earth -- by sending a Mother's Day ePostcard to your friends.
Show your respect for their courageous struggles by spreading the word about their fight -- tell your friends and family about their work.
 Sally Gumlickpuk
New Stuyahok, Alaska
My name is Sally Gumlickpuk from New Stuyahok, Alaska and I live in the headwaters of where the proposed Pebble Mine is to be. I think this is the worst place imaginable for a mine the size of Pebble. We are surrounded by surface and ground waters. We had a ton of rainfall and snowfall this winter so we have a big run-off this year.
I am the President of Stuyahok Limited, Vice-President of the New Stuyahok Tribal Council and City member. I am a mother of 5, and a grandmother of 3 big boys. I am a subsistence user of fish and a past fisherwoman. My son, husband and his father have all been fishermen and worked in the fisheries business. My family was featured in the Bristol Bay Times as 3 generations working together hanging and mending nets.
We are very reliant on the subsistence fish that comes year-round from the Nushagak and Mulchatna Rivers. We use all 5 types of fish: King salmon, Sockeye, Chum, Pink, and Coho, and all the fresh water fish for our food staples. We also put away the meat and birds that live off the clean waters of the Nushagak and Mulchatna Rivers for the winter. If they are gone, so is our culture and way of life. This is why we are very opposed to the Pebble Mine project!
Learn more about the threats to the Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska.
Emelia Amoateng
Teberebie, Ghana
Emelia Amoateng is a mother of two, and has led the struggles of the Teberebie community in Ghana to protect community rights and land from irresponsible mining.
As chairperson of the Concerned Farmers Association of Teberebie, Emelia has worked to hold the AngloGold Ashanti mining company accountable for its actions at its Iduapriem mine. (AngloGold Ashanti acquired the mine in 2004 from a previous owner.) Emelia has sought to obtain fair compensation for affected farmers who lost their crops and farmland as a result of waste rock dumps built by the mine. She is leading a number of farmers in Teberebie in a legal suit against the mining company. She has also worked with Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) to defend the community from security forces operating on behalf of mining interests.
Emilia has also actively sought to hold the company accountable for pollution of the Anwonabe River, which serves many communities in the area. "They have turned our farmlands into rock waste dumps and polluted our streams with their chemicals. Our village which produced food for the cities is now a starving village with no land for farming," Emelia said.
Emelie has decided to return to school to further her studies so she can be a better activist and advocate on behalf of her community. She adds," I have a responsibility to organize my community against the injustice of the mining companies."
To learn more, please visit:
www.wacam.org and www.fian.org
Irma Gallardo
Espolon, Chile
Irma Gallardo, a mother of six, is directly threatened by Canadian mining company Kinross' proposed heap-leach gold mine in the Espolon Valley in Chile, where she lives. Irma has made her living by establishing the community's only tourism lodging option in this section of Chilean Patagonia. Her community is located adjacent to the Espolon Lake, considered by some to be the cleanest and clearest water in Chile. A glacial-fed lake, the crystal blue water has attracted fly-fishing enthusiasts to test their skills on the lake's trout population. Irma has lived all her life here and hopes that her six grandchildren will have the same option as her. When asked about the proposed mine, she is quick to reply: "No. It will destroy the wildlife and waters. It would bring ruin and force us to abandon everything and leave."
Espolon is a community of 30 families that live a subsistence-lifestyle dependent on agriculture and cattle-raising. Located in a pristine region in Patagonia, Espolon has recently gained outside interest as a tourism destination. Local and international outfitters are increasing the number of tourists visiting the valley annually, boosting the struggling economic situation in the region. As Irma explained "I live from my fields and tourism, from the green and from the water." Kinross' gold mining project would destroy all that she knows.
For more information:
http://patagonia-under-siege.blogspot.com/ and http://www.futafriends.org/
Rosario Piedra
Junín, Ecuador
Rosario Piedra was born and raised in Junín, a town in the Intag cloud forest region of northwest Andean Ecuador where two mining companies have attempted to develop mines since the early 1990s. The proposed open-pit copper mining projects threatened to relocate five towns and destroy one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. Even though the community has thus far fended off mining interests, the impact has been devastating locally. Rosario knows this all too well: in 1992 her husband was shot by mining land prospectors, leaving her a young widow with four children.
"Mama Charito," as she is affectionately referred to by friends and family, is now a grandmother of six. She says that she is against mining for the sake of her children and grandchildren. "We want to live a peaceful life without mining, so that our children and grandchildren can live peacefully without any worries... We are losing our identity here in [Intag]. That is why we are fighting."
Rosario is not only the head of her family, but she also directs Junín's Ecotourism Association, a project designed to provide a sustainable alternative to mining for the community. In December 2006, Rosario along with others in the community blocked the entry into Junín's community protected area of more than 50 armed personnel linked to the Canadian Ascendant Copper Corporation. Facing pepper spray and bullets, Rosario and Junín's residents held their ground. Now the Ecuadorian government has revoked Ascendant Copper's concessions in Junín, and Ascendant is facing a lawsuit in Ontario, Canada, for human rights abuses in Intag.
Learn more about mining in Ecuador:
http://www.decoin.org/ and http://earthworksaction.org/ecuador.cfm
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