Liviri River in Kasungu District does not begin as a harbinger of death. Its journey starts with clean flow from Kalonje Village, but slowly gets soiled as it snakes past rolling hills and tobacco fields that have replaced lush forests. However, the murky river changes colour as it flows past Chimbiya, where both locals and migrant merchants use mercury to pan gold along its banks.
The toxic sludge flows all the way to Dwangwa River, which pours into Lake Malawi, the country’s main tourist destination and fishing ground. The machines grind heaps of ore day and night, overwhelming the brains behind to use mercury for quick yields. For villages along the riverbank, the contaminated stream remains the only source of drinking water.
Linda Mwale, 69, bends carefully, her knees stiff with age as she scoops muddy water into a bucket. “I’ve been doing this every day for over five decades because water is life,” she says. There is no tap in her village.
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No safe alternative. “Whatever flows past our community quenches our thirst, cooks food and keeps our children clean,” she said, cupping the muddy water. Mwale has learned to ignore the colour, but her body and neighbours are not immune to waterborne diseases and poisoning.
“Our stomachs hurt, but what else can we do?” she asks. In Zungu Village upstream, three gold mills grind relentlessly, washing tonnes of soil mixed with mercury to fast-track gold panning.
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