Roxy

“Yes. Congo Calling is an organisation that works to end the trade in conflict minerals. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC, there are very lucrative mining sites and the minerals extracted there are traded and bought by technology companies. But because of the conflict there in the DRC, many of the mines are controlled by rebel and militia groups. It basically means that the money earned from trading minerals often goes to funding war. That means that when we buy technology we can be inadvertently supporting conflict. So the campaign that I am leading here at uni is aimed at making sure our uni isn’t a part of this trade. So basically, I’ve met with the procurement board to try and get them to make a decision to only buy technology from companies who check and audit their supply chains. We’re nearly there—there’s been interest from the uni and when I last spoke to them they were moving forward with a new policy for procurement!”

What was it that got you passionate about that in the first place?

“Well, I became passionate for International Development when I went to Uganda. I changed my whole degree choice from Fashion to International Development because I felt it fit more with who I thought God was and what he had put on my heart to do. When I went to university, my dad introduced me to Congo Calling, which is how I got involved with that project. And because of my course, the project kind of fed into it and I got more passionate and I’m doing my dissertation about it and everything!”