If you have been good this year, Santa may leave a shiny piece of coal in your stocking. Young men in Morca, a small mountain town in Columbia, create beautiful pendants and ornaments from pieces of coal. Each piece is hand carved and polished to make a gift that is beautiful to look at and silky to touch.
Mining is Morca is extremely hazardous with casualties and deaths from mine cave-ins and poisonous gases. However years of excessive, long-term mining have have polluted the countryside and made farming impossible. Local residents are dependent on mining for employment. Both men and boys work in the coal mines to provide for their families.
Mining is Morca is extremely hazardous with casualties and deaths from mine cave-ins and poisonous gases. However years of excessive, long-term mining have have polluted the countryside and made farming impossible. Local residents are dependent on mining for employment. Both men and boys work in the coal mines to provide for their families.
In 1995 the Colombian government created the Morca Coal Project to offer young men and boys and alternative to mining. Boys from the area were encouraged to attend school and learn how to carve jewelry from coal. Morca is in the Colombian department of Boyacá. Morca-Boyacá Coal Project, with assistance from the Columbian Goverment, the National Pedagogical University in Bogata, and companies like One World Projects, is creating new, sustainable employment for rural Colombia.
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