TOXIC TOWN
Kobe Goderis // Tom Van Assche // 2022 // 25 min
In 1994, one of the largest lead mines in the world is closed. Lots of people in Kabwe, a major city in Zambia, lose their jobs. They are left with a mountain of harmful mining waste and lead-polluted residential areas. To this day, the wind still spreads the polluting lead particles over the poor western part of the city. In those neighborhoods lead levels that are up to 20 times higher than the internationally permitted maximum, are measured in children. At the same time, the mountain of mining waste also creates a new kind of employment. Every day, people illegally dig through the polluted mine tailings for precious minerals hoping to make some money to survive. Redhorse Reporters Tom Van Assche and Kobe Goderis visit the old mining site and in the polluted neighborhoods, and listen to the stories of people who experience the consequences of years of pollution.
Realised with the support of Fonds Pascal Decroos voor bijzondere journalistiek, Equator and the Belgian Development Cooperation.
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"most children IN KABWE have more than 80 mg/dl of lead in their blood. According to international standardS, lead is poisonous when the values exceed 5 mg/dl. Lead levels above 45 mg/dl require hospitalization, levels above 85 mg/dl are fatal”
/// ROSE /// Mother & nurse in Kabwe ///
