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was painted with a purple dye to ensure they four and joined local Rotarians and healthcare
didn’t come back for a second dose. workers at a booth in a busy market place, where
Roger and Paula took part in the National they vaccinated around 200 children. Many older
Immunisation Day in Gurgaon, Rajasthan, just brothers and sisters brought their young siblings
south of Delhi. On the Saturday, they helped to with them to be vaccinated. On receiving the
promote the forthcoming event Immunisation Day drops, the children receive a small present such
by visiting local Rotary projects and received a as a balloon or pencil.
warm welcome at a large public school where
they were entertained by the children dancing. The following day the Rotarians were taken into
the slum areas of Gurgaon where they immunised
Immunising in Gurgaon children in their own homes, many of whom lived
in squalor with just a curtain taking the place of a
They started the Immunisation Day itself at the door. Although a humbling experience, they left
local hospital where there were about 20 young knowing that by administering just two polio
mothers (and some fathers) each cradling tiny drops into the mouth of each child, they had
babies, some just hours old, waiting very given them increased protection against the
patiently for the Chief Medical Officer and the crippling disease.
vaccination teams to arrive. After the usual
photographic opportunities and traditional This was Roger and Paula’s third Trip to India and
welcome, they were then divided into groups of this year’s experience was very different to last
year when they were in Bhiwadi, an industrial
town, where they remained as a group of 20 and
their brief was to flood an area with vaccinators
ensuring that every house was visited.
Final comment from Roger and Paula:
“This was a most memorable and worthwhile experience,
helping to keep India polio-free while they change over to
Inactivated Polio Vaccine by injection which must be
administered by a trained health worker. We all must
continue to support the Rotary International aim to
eradicate polio from the world entirely. We are nearly there,
but until it is totally eradicated, immunisation must
continue”
and John Page highlighted another aspect:
“The fellowship that the Rotarians experienced was one of
the most memorable aspects of the whole journey”
