Key to the World: Saving Lives in Zambia
April 9, 2007 — -- Long before Bono, more than a century before Angelina Jolie, there was David Livingstone -- the first celebrity determined to save Africa. The Scottish missionary doctor became a 19th-century megastar by exploring "the dark continent" and bringing to Europe tales of fantastic beasts and natural wonders like the majestic Victoria Falls.
But what really drove Livingstone was his compassion for the people of Africa and a zealous belief that their lives could improve if only modern commerce could take hold. One hundred and fifty years later, ABC News set out from the town of Livingstone, Zambia -- named after this famed explorer -- for the second part of the "World News" series, "Key to the World." The only sure sign of 21st-century progress we saw was a cell phone tower disguised as a tree.
Today Zambia should be better off economically. It is a country rich in natural resources and unburdened by war. In the late 1960s this country was the third-largest producer of copper in the world, but when copper prices crashed in 1975, the Zambian economy crashed as well. The 7 million people in Zambia now grow what they can to survive. In addition to a struggling economy, the population of Zambia has also been hit hard by AIDS. Village girls sell themselves to truckers who spread HIV along their routes while officials battle the myth that sex with a virgin cures AIDS.
The virus is a big reason the life expectancy for people born in this country is 37 years. Inadequate health care is another. In vast areas of Zambia, with no doctors and few roads, even minor health problems can turn dire. In Chikankata, we witnessed patients walk from as far as 45 miles away to the nearest hospital. The lucky ones get a ride in an ox cart.
The average woman in Zambia delivers six children. Sadly, the infant morality rate in Zambia is so high that only three of those children are likely to survive.
Many parents in Zambia wait a week before naming their baby so they don't grow too attached. ABC News met one 9-day-old baby named Woosico. Her mom delivered her by C-section at a Salvation Army clinic --
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