Zambia

You may have seen a feature article in the June 3rd Lincoln paper about the good work being done by Dr. Chuck Erickson of the Lincoln east club and Dorothy Zimmerman of the Beatrice Rotary Club.  Chuck and Dorothy are heading up an initiative to improve living and health conditions for infants and children in part of rural Zambia.  

Chuck (a pediatrician) has been to Zambia 9 times and he and Dorothy (a nurse and hospital administrator) are there now again continuing efforts to increase the quality of health care and nutrition for young children and families and improve water quality.  Some of their efforts include rehabilitating old wells that needed maintenance, and looking at dam construction on certain streams.   They are aware that villagers have experienced great difficulty accessing water sometimes walking 8 miles a day.  Chuck and Dorothy and others are also looking at new crops and livestock that might thrive in the region.  Chuck has been a strong proponent of the importance of the first 1000 days of a child’s life being critical to brain/cognitive development.  The Zambia project started as a club project between Lincoln east and Beatrice but has grown into a district wide initiative.