Just wanted to share some interesting and some sad information that I came across recently about larimar, that beatiful stone of the DR.
If you don't know what it is, here is an article:
Larimar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It's interesting because it talks about how it got named and first commercialized.
Here are some pictures I have taken at that small shop near the highway at the bottom of Casa Bonita:
At this shop, the guy has some neat designs, including one that looks like a leaf. And if you are going to be in the area for a while and have a design in mind, you can take it to them and they'll make it for you, assuming that their tools and experience can allow it. They don't even mind if you want to work on a piece yourself.
Some sad news...in the past WEEK, TWO YOUNG MEN, ages 21 and 23, HAVE BEEN KILLED working in the larimar mines near Bahoruco. One was electrocuted by lighting he was using underground, the other smothered in a collapse. Here are the articles about the incidents:
Muere obrero minero electrocutado dentro de un hoyo en la mina Larimar en Barahona : Cuatriboliao.Net
Muere obrero en la mina de Larimar en Filipina cuando realizaba labores de extracci?n : Cuatriboliao.Net
I think this is very sad. Many in the communities around Bahoruco depend on larimar as a significant source of income. They are obviously working in VERY PRECARIOUS conditions to mine the little blue stone that everyone loves to buy here. Most of the larimar in fact comes out of those mines. The profits made by selling it to Dominicans and tourists alike are obviously not going to make safety improvements in the mine. I am afraid that unless something serious is done, more will surely die.
I know there have been deaths in the past, but do not have the records or info. This really got my attention because it was two young people in such a short time. Something should be done before more lose their lives trying to make a living mining larimar...
If you don't know what it is, here is an article:
Larimar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It's interesting because it talks about how it got named and first commercialized.
Here are some pictures I have taken at that small shop near the highway at the bottom of Casa Bonita:
At this shop, the guy has some neat designs, including one that looks like a leaf. And if you are going to be in the area for a while and have a design in mind, you can take it to them and they'll make it for you, assuming that their tools and experience can allow it. They don't even mind if you want to work on a piece yourself.
Some sad news...in the past WEEK, TWO YOUNG MEN, ages 21 and 23, HAVE BEEN KILLED working in the larimar mines near Bahoruco. One was electrocuted by lighting he was using underground, the other smothered in a collapse. Here are the articles about the incidents:
Muere obrero minero electrocutado dentro de un hoyo en la mina Larimar en Barahona : Cuatriboliao.Net
Muere obrero en la mina de Larimar en Filipina cuando realizaba labores de extracci?n : Cuatriboliao.Net
I think this is very sad. Many in the communities around Bahoruco depend on larimar as a significant source of income. They are obviously working in VERY PRECARIOUS conditions to mine the little blue stone that everyone loves to buy here. Most of the larimar in fact comes out of those mines. The profits made by selling it to Dominicans and tourists alike are obviously not going to make safety improvements in the mine. I am afraid that unless something serious is done, more will surely die.
I know there have been deaths in the past, but do not have the records or info. This really got my attention because it was two young people in such a short time. Something should be done before more lose their lives trying to make a living mining larimar...