Have you ever thought of what you wanted to do when you grow up? These sulfur miners spend all day in volcanoes breathing in toxic gases, while mining sulfur to support their families. Many of the sulfur miners have suffered injuries including deformed backs,  spines, dissolved teeth, hurting of lungs, eyes, and throat. All the work they put in to carry 150 to 200 pounds of sulfur only gets them 11 US dollars if they are lucky. Just to get 11 US dollars they climb up a 9,000 ft mountain, climb down 3,000 ft into a crater, and back up and down the volcano with 200 pounds of sulfur. Most of the men don’t even have masks to protect them, so they have to wear rags to block out the toxic gas.

A man named Suwono who is 33 years old has been a sulfur miner for 9 years. He has a little baby named Reny who he would rather have get a education than follow his footsteps into a volcano. All of this has resulted in Suwono’s deformed back and working from 6:00 am to 2:30 pm. The average life span for a sulfur miner is 50 years which means Suwono has at least 17 years left before his death. Is this a job you would want?

By:Brendan C. and Liam M.