India’s Rotary Polio National Immunization Day
 

Five Rotarians and one guest represented District 5650 in India’s National Immunization Day (NID) for polio. In addition, the 10-day journey included interaction with local Rotary clubs and their projects and visiting some of India’s most extraordinary sights.

Bob and Barbara Bartle, Rotary 14; Shari McCright, Lincoln East; Kimberly Kolakowski and Carol Wood, Council Bluffs Noon and her guest, Sharlene Pekny, Council Bluffs left Nebraska on February 23. Sightseeing in Delhi included the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Gandhi Smriti.  In Agra tours included Sikandra, Agra Fort, Taj Mahal and Itmad-Ud-Daulah.  In Jaipur, the Pink City, sightseeing included the Fatehpur Sikri, Jantar Mantar observatory, Hawa Mahal, Qutub Minar and Amer Fort where the team road on elephants to the beautiful hilltop fortress.

 

The seventeen-member tour group visited 4 Rotary clubs and multiple Rotary projects: the Jaipur Limb Factory, which is a well-known Rotary project providing artificial limbs to over 2.1M of India’s disabled. We visited Kusumpur Pahari, a Rotary funded project in one of Delhi’s largest slums.  In addition to educating the children of the village, it teaches micro finance, sewing and hand stitching to women with the belief that a family thrives when women are empowered and independent.  The Rotary Club also supports the NAB India Centre for Blind Women career academy.  We were served lunch by those in the culinary program, learned about their spa/message training, the 9-month tactile breast examination training and human resource training.

 

Our polio education began at St. Stephen’s Hospital, a facility specializing in post-polio surgeries to over 100,000 children.  We were inspired and anxious to participate in our NID the following day.  We were divided into 4 teams and travelled separately to a remote village southwest of Delhi.  Our teams were assigned to various wards in the village and greeted by the healthcare provider for our ward. 

 

The first day was a clinic format and families came to us for the polio drop immunization.  At least 100 families were served the first day.  The next day we returned, and our teams walked door to door.  The team was well organized, and a recorder was tracking the homes and would chalk mark the house with an “x” if a child/children were not home.  The local health providers were very familiar with the neighborhoods and the families.  Again, the goal was to reach at least 100 families.  The day after we left, the local health care workers returned to immunize the homes marked with an “x”.  The efficiency was very impressive. 

 

All of us felt our NID experience was life changing.  Mothers smiled with joy to know their child was safe from this crippling disease.  Many children were dressed up for the occasion.  Children from all over the village followed us, when they were not in school, and clamored for selfies with us.  Smiles are a universal language.  As we flew home, we knew we would never forget those precious faces with purple pinkies.  We will never be the same.