[IBMiOSS] How to access IBMi DB2 from an external nodejs/express server

Hi all,

Though it might be quite a simple question, I am still struggling with it
and on the verge of giving up. Also, I researched the Opensource archive
without success, which makes me feel as I am trying to do it the wrong way.

That's the question: given a Nodejs application running Express on a Linux
server, easily and successfully callable from IBMi programs, how can I add
to it a new endpoint to read and write rows from/to my IBMi DB2 tables?
Simply put: which Nodejs package can I use to access IBMi tables from an
external nodejs/express server?

I found many packages that install on IBMi only, but I need the Nodejs
application to run outside the IBMi server.

Also, I tried node-jt400 package but it needs MS Visual Studio which I
can't install on my development machine.

Many sources talk about using ODBC, but I don't know where to start from.

So, I finally resolve to ask for your experiences, if possible.

Thank you very much for any hint or suggestion.

Lucia