So often, it is difficult to assess the impact one has upon others. This is particularly true with respect to Rotary International’s campaign to eradicate polio throughout the world. During the past ten years, I have had the honor and privilege of leading teams of Rotarians from throughout the world to India for the purpose of distributing polio vaccine to children under the age of five years during the National Immunization Days (NIDs). This February 2012 was no exception.
My ROTARY DREAM TEAM – INDIA 2012, returned again to an area within the state of Haryana – the Mewat District – which up until recently had been a hotbed of outbreaks of new cases of diagnosed polio victims. For years, the people of the area (predominantly Muslims) had prevented their children from being immunized because of their concern that the vaccine would sterilize their children. Through Rotary’s efforts, this myth was dispelled and each month, more of the children in these villages received the vaccine.
The team was divided into groups of four or five, and were sent to various enclaves and neighborhoods in the towns of Bisru and Punhana. Three other Rotarians accompanied me to the front porch of a home in Bisru. Upon arrival at the “booth”, we met the three local ladies and one gentleman who were in charge of that “booth”. We explained who we were and why we were there – to assist them in distributing the polio vaccine to children from their neighborhood. In addition to my fellow team members, I had brought with me a stuffed animal toy – Larry the Moose – which my Rotary Club president had entrusted to me to take with me on this journey.
Larry is the unofficial mascot of our Rotary Club in Sanford-Springvale, Maine. He has participated in many projects throughout the year, always wearing different outfits of clothing. This was no exception, as Larry was sporting a jacket and pants, made of Indian cloth, as well as a Rotary pin and a “collar” with the slogan END POLIO NOW. As I had brought Larry with me, more and more of the children were fascinated with seeing him, and I was able to use him as a puppet to attract the attention of the children and to encourage them to bring their brothers and sisters to receive the drops of life-saving polio vaccine. More and more children gathered around our distribution “booth” and as Larry “spoke” to them and waved his paw, they giggled and sometimes shrieked with joy. Larry even grasped one of the markers which is used to mark children’s left pinky finger with purple to show they had been immunized that day. We refer to this as the Purple Pinky Project. Even Larry had his left antler marked with the purple dye AND he signed the official poster for the NID.
After some time, I decided to walk around the neighborhood, bringing Larry with me. Children would walk alongside me and Larry would wave to them or speak to them, through my voice. It was lots of fun, both for the children and for me. I walked up the alley and spoke to a teenage boy, asking his name and introducing myself. He smiled and said his father and I had the same name – Elias. I asked to meet his father and he sent a younger brother to look for him. Soon, his father, Elias, came to the front of their home. We shook hands and were glad that each of us shared the name – Eliash (their pronunciation). Larry even was included in one or two photos with the two men named Eliash. Before saying good bye to my namesake, he turned to me and in very clear English, asked, “Where is Sarah?” This shocked me and I asked him to repeat his question. Again, he asked, “Where is Sarah?” I remembered that two years before, Sarah Miller, a teenager, had accompanied her father on our trip and evidently, she had worked in this neighborhood distributing drops of vaccine to the children. Obviously, Sarah had made a lasting impression and had served to break down one more barrier of cultural prejudice and replaced it with an extension of friendship.
When I turned to walk back to the “booth”, more children had joined our walking group. I was startled to see two children who had evidently returned to their houses and had brought their stuffed animals, presumably to meet Larry. One child had a stuffed bunny rabbit. Another little girl had a Teddy Bear – a white one, which had a torn seam in what would be his left armpit and some of the stuffing was falling out of the “wound”. I took Larry over to the little girl and after the two stuffed animals shook paws, we marked the Teddy Bear’s left paw with the purple marked, and again, the children shrieked with joy! We paused for a moment so a photo could be taken of these two new “friends” and then moved on. The smiles on the faces of the children were priceless and will always remain in my memory as an indication that again, through Rotary, we have helped to bring about peace through greater understanding and friendship, one tiny step at a time.
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Together, we will END POLIO NOW!
