Paige Havens administering polio vaccine | Provided.
By Paige Havens
HOSCHTON, Ga. | As a member of the Rotary Club of Gwinnett for 19 years, I’ve been actively engaged in Rotary’s mission to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. I’ve loyally given to the End Polio Now campaign, as well as championed polio education and awareness events. As I’ve watched Rotary’s efforts gain ground around the world, I’ve dreamed of “someday” being a part of a Rotary immunization team that would administer life-saving vaccines to children in high-risk areas.
Finally, in January, I seized an opportunity to travel to India with a team of Rotarians representing four countries for a polio immunization experience. Our mission: to serve and to learn.
In 19 days, I traveled 21,809 miles visiting five states across India. Our experiences brought us up close and personal with the realities of polio. We visited the Rotary International South Asia office and had a briefing from the World Health Organization to understand better the history of polio, surveillance efforts, and the eradication plan.
Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Though there were only 10 active cases last year, we were reminded polio is just one plane ride or border crossing away from raging again without complete eradication.
A visit to St. Stephen’s Hospital in New Delhi brought the data to life as Dr. Mathew Varghese, one of the last remaining orthopedic surgeons treating polio survivors, gave a tour of his Rotary-funded clinic. Meeting survivors was life changing. Their looks of gratitude and tear-filled eyes said thank you beyond measure.
Our first round of polio vaccinations took place in Gurgaon. Placing those first two drops in the mouth of a little girl was beyond emotional. But what struck me even deeper was the look of deep gratitude in her mother’s eyes. Though we didn’t speak the same language, our mama hearts didn’t need words. We both knew what those drops meant for her child. We went on to vaccinate many more children in Kolkata and Dhanbad as the journey unfolded.
We saw the collaborative power of Rotary as we visited active club projects. The Bhagat Singh Foundation NGO School near New Delhi started with just five students under a bridge. Today, the school now rents a building basement where 150 students are flourishing.
An eye clinic in Kolkata provides thousands of free cataract surgeries annually. We visited life-saving dialysis centers, Healing Little Hearts Hospital, the Jeevan Jyoti school for special needs children, the Jaipur Limb Centre, Kashitand Village School, and the Upasana Vocational Training Center for girls. The Dhanbad club even put us to work at the construction site of a new dialysis center helping lay foundation bricks for the building.
No doubt, this trip changed me. It pushed me way outside my comfort zone. It opened my eyes to unimaginable poverty and human struggle. I witnessed a whole new level of commitment to service and caring for others. I am excited to see what unfolds next as I leverage my new friendships and connections to further the work of Rotary and serve to change lives in many ways, and especially in the eradication of polio.
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