In one former mining town in Zambia, more than 200,000 children and women have been shown to have elevated levels of lead poisoning. Decades of mining left some 6.4 million tons of lead-bearing waste behind in Kabwe.
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00:00Oh
00:30Some times our parents don't steer the cart.
00:34They say, if you don't steer pull the cart.
00:37Sometimes a mother can't steer.
00:40When I was young, we used to go to school.
00:44But after I graduated, I was school-less.
00:47There is little going on.
00:49We have to go to school three times a week,
00:52and we have to be in school every week.
00:55I used to go to school, every week.
00:58We should not be able to eat the same food as our children in Nailoa.
01:01They eat the same food as their parents,
01:05because they think they are the only ones with a disability.
01:08You have to eat healthy,
01:10you have to eat well,
01:13and you have to know how to live.
01:16That's where it's important.
01:28Lead poisoning symptoms are very subtle, so they are very difficult to identify. However,
01:50there are some common symptoms that we'll show, because lead in the body mimics calcium.
01:56So you'll find that some people, children especially, will have problems with brain
02:02development, they'll have problems with the development of their bones, their teeth, they
02:07may have stomach problems. But the most, biggest symptom with lead poisoning is developmental
02:13delays, especially in children.
02:26For more information, visit www.FEMA.gov