Kabwe is the site of a mine and smelter that polluted the environment with extremely high levels of toxic lead from 1904 to 1994. The mine was originally owned by British colonial companies, including Anglo American, and later nationalized by Zambia. It was closed in 1994, but the mine’s waste was never cleaned up, and even now, open waste dumps continue to pollute nearby residential areas such as Kasanda, Chowa, and Makululu. As a result, tens of thousands of children in these areas are at acut