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DRC / MALNUTRITION
STORY: DRC / MALNUTRITION
TRT: 2.18
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ SWAHILI /NATS
DATELINE: MAY 2011, KALEMIE / KINSHASA, DR CONGO
MAY 2011, KALEMIE, DR CONGO
1. Wide shot, fishing boat on Lake Tanganyika
2. Med shot, kid filling up container
3. Wide shot, beach at lake with people taking water and others washing clothes
4. Pan right, woman with water arrives at purification point
5. Close up, health worker puts chlorine into water container
6. Various shots, market
MAY 2011, KINSHASA, DR CONGO
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Simeon Nanama, Nutrition Manager, UNICEF:
“Overall this diet lacking essential micro-nutrients such as iron, zinc and other key micro-nutrients that are required for a proper growth and development of children. I will say that an adult may be able to manage without these foods, but that is not possible for a child.”
MAY 2011, KALEMIE, DR CONGO
8. Wide shot, exterior hospital
9. Various shots, interior hospital
10. Close up, child
11. Wide shot, lake and city
12. Various shots, market
13. VOXPOP(Swahili) Emery Kibisi, Market Customer:
“The food has become very expensive, especially fish. It is getting difficult to buy enough for my children.”
14. Various shots, market
15. Med shot, potato seller reorganizes potatoes for sale
MAY 2011, KINSHASA, DR CONGO
16. SOUNDBITE (English) SOUNDBITE (English) Simeon Nanama, Nutrition Manager, UNICEF:
“Even when the child survives, he becomes weak to a lot of things. He becomes unable to do, accomplish many things including poor school performance and then poor work productivity in adult life. This aspect has not been always publicised enough.”
MAY 2011, KALEMIE, DR CONGO
17. Wide shot, people walk to and from market along the train tracks
Water is a lifeline. And thus for the people of Kalemie, living on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, this lake is the backbone of their lives.
Every day women and children come here to collect water for cooking and drinking. Others come to wash clothes. But this water contains also many diseases. And thus untreated it can easily cause diarrhoea or make one very ill.
And thus several NGOs, including UNICEF have come together to support this easy purification help point. Each water container gets some drops of chlorine that make a big difference, a simple but crucial step towards boosting the immune system of the Congolese here.
The next step is to try to improve their diet. Too often people here have a limited variety of foodstuffs and thus a limited intake of essential vitamins. And that makes everyone weaker, especially children.
SOUNDBITE (English) Simeon Nanama, Nutrition Manager, UNICEF:
“Overall this diet lacking essential micro-nutrients such as iron, zinc and other key micro-nutrients that are required for a proper growth and development of children. I will say that an adult may be able to manage without these foods, but that is not possible for a child.”
The impact of this lack of vitamins can be easily witnessed at the local clinic; patients with severe diarrhoea and children with signs of malnutrition.
The lack of a balanced diet is chipping at one’s immune system. And that, in an environment like the DRC, with fragile health systems, is allowing many diseases to cause havoc.
And thus for the people of Kalemie, like so many in Africa, it’s a daily struggle to find the necessary food variety as well as the ability to afford the ever increasing prices.
Here at a market in Kalemie you will find the main foodstuffs like cassava, beans and fish from the lake.
VOXPOP(Swahili) Emery Kibisi, Market Customer:
“The food has become very expensive, especially fish. It is getting difficult to buy enough for my children.”
Transport costs are often a major pressure on the rise of food prices, which is becoming fast a critical issue. Food security, malnutrition and one’s immune system are all interconnected, and that combination hangs as a looming threat above the children of Kalemie and their future.
SOUNDBITE (English) SOUNDBITE (English) Simeon Nanama, Nutrition Manager, UNICEF:
“Even when the child survives, he becomes weak to a lot of things. He becomes unable to do, accomplish many things including poor school performance and then poor work productivity in adult life. This aspect has not been always publicised enough.”
With recent warnings of massive food price hikes and food shortages in parts of Africa, the impact on the children of Congo will be hard felt.
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