Voices From the Congo

LISTENING: to the dogs bark outside
FEELING: hot, spring is here!
SEEING: my fan spin and spin

My mom has worked since she was a kid. I can't remember the exact age — but she was no older than 10 when she began selling pupusas on the streets of El Salvador to help my abuelita and my tías. She didn't finish school; that's not a priority when families are living day to day. At least her work wasn't dangerous. It still robbed my sweet mom of a proper childhood and an education, but being a street vendor didn't expose her to hazardous machinery or chemicals.

The same can't be said for many other children around the globe — especially in the mining sector that is powering the clean energy transition.

Welcome to Possibilities, a creative climate newsletter on the possibilities that lie where crisis meets community. I’m Yessenia Funes, and I just published a story for Atmos that digs into the troubled realities of cobalt, a critical mineral needed in batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.