I acted as a man to get work, till I was accused of rape - Miner who left an abusive marriage .

Pili Hussein grew up in a large family in Tanzania. The daughter of a livestock keeper who had many large farms, Pili's father had six wives and she was one of 38 children. Although she was well looked after, in many ways, she doesn't look back on her upbringing fondly. .
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"My father treated me like a boy and I was given livestock to take care of - I didn't like that life at all," she says. But her marriage was even more unhappy, and at the age of 31, Pili ran away from her abusive husband. .
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In search of work she found herself in the small Tanzanian town of Mererani, the only place in the world where mining for a rare, violet-blue gemstone called tanzanite takes place.
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"Women were not allowed in the mining area, so I entered bravely like a man, like a strong person. I acted like a gorilla - I could fight, my language was bad, I could carry a big knife. I was called Uncle Hussein. Even today if you come to the camp you ask for me by that name, Uncle Hussein." .
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In the tight confines of the hot, dirty tunnels. Pili would work 10-12 hours a day. "I could go 600m under, into the mine. I would do this more bravely than many other men. I was very strong and I was able to deliver what men would expect another man could do." .
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And after about a year, she struck it rich, uncovering two massive clusters of tanzanite stones. With the money that she made she built new homes for her father, mother and twin sister, bought herself more tools, and began employing miners to work for her. .
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And her cover was so convincing that it took an extraordinary set of circumstances for her true identity to finally be revealed. A local woman had reported that she'd been raped by some of the miners and Pili was arrested as a suspect. .
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She had no choice but to reveal her secret. Pili has now built a successful career and today owns her own mining company with 70 employees. "I'm proud of what I did - it has made me rich, but it was hard for me," she says. Crdt: BBC