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Polio Plus

Read about some positive developments in the fight against polio:                 21st August 2010

.             {Taken from the Monthly Update from the Pakistan Polio Plus Division}.

Afghanistan
On the Border – after a recent outbreak in neighboring Tajikistan, Afghan officials are trying new approaches to ensure that the polio virus doesn’t enter through the border. Six permanent polio immunization booths have been erected at border crossing checkpoints, where military personnel are immunizing children before they enter the country.  Drops are also being given in unlikely places, including at weddings, in female prisons, and on trains and buses.  Despite insecurity that has hindered access in some restricted areas, case counts have remained steady, with 13 polio cases reported this year, compared to 13 at the same time last year.

Horn of Africa
Celebrating One Year Polio Free –As of 30 July 2010, the Horn of Africa, including Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, has once again been declared polio-free after an outbreak in 2009 threatened that status. The last case of polio reported there was in July 2009.

India
Indian Rotarians Engage Muslim Leadership – Rotarians recently organized a meeting in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh to encourage the Muslim leadership to support polio eradication activities in the area.   Uttar Pradesh accounts for 10 of the 27 polio cases reported in India during 2010. The meeting resulted in a strengthening of relations between the Ulemas and Rotarians, and future meetings are being planned to continue the collaborative effort.

Nigeria
Nigeria receives high praise from African Union Leaders – At their summit in Kampala, Uganda, the African Union praised Nigeria’s efforts to eradicate polio.  As of 4 August 2010, Nigeria is reporting 6 polio cases compared to 365 at the same time last year. Dr Mohammed Pate, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) cited increased political engagement among all stakeholders as key to the dramatic success in reducing cases.

Pakistan
Polio cases have indicated an alarming rise from FATA & KPK region in the last 2 months. Total number of confirmed polio cases (as on 25th of August, 2010) = 43. Details are: 25 type-1 cases; 18 type-3 cases.


The Polio Plus Truck
Advertising on the side of a truck in Karachi

Above: Some images from Karachi showing publicity for the National Immunization Drive for Polio translated the board says:  ‘National Immunization Drive’ – Get rid of polio with two drops of polio vaccine for every child, every time.


Polio NID April 2009 at Area Manzari Cheen Bezai Mohmand Agency FATA Pakistan, by a former Rotarian of Rotary Club Peshawar D3270 Pakistan.

Bunny Jumps

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Now for something completely different, maybe a good fund raising project:

Dolly Parton & RI team up to promote early childhood reading

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Country music legend Dolly Parton says reading to a preschooler is the best way to prepare for the day when that child first heads off to school.

Parton was a speaker at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada, in June, where she received Paul Harris Fellow Recognition and shared her appreciation for Rotary’s efforts to promote literacy. RI News caught up with Parton in Montréal for an exclusive interview. Watch the video above for the interview, and for more from her convention appearance.

Rotary International and the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library are collaborating to promote early childhood reading. The Imagination Library provides preschool children with a free book each month from birth until age five. The program has received support from more than 115 Rotary clubs and has grown from its base in Parton’s home state of Tennessee, USA, to other communities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Dolly Parton Teams Up with Rotary International from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Presentation to Marrar Public School

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Grahame Miles with the Marrar School Captain Adam Wallace

Past President Grahame Miles was the main force behind our Rotary Community Day this year.  Grahame also drove the monster raffle and as a result we as a club were able to provide a total of $6,767  to most of our local schools in the Coolamon Shire.  Here we see Grahame presenting a cheque for $625 to the Marrar Public School Captain Adam Wallace recently.

Thanks for all that you do for the community Grahame and for being a Rotarian.

Megan MacDonald Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar

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Megan MacDonald in Nairobi

I first met Megan MacDonald in Los Angeles at the Rotary International Convention in 2008.  Megan was on her way to Kenya to study at the University of Nairobi as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.  Megan has kept a blog on her activities and some of her posts are truly remarkable.

Megan’s Blog

Here is an example of her writing:

WRITINGS OF MEGAN

“Have you seen The Constant Gardener? Do you remember the rolling sprawl of rusted tin roofs in Kibera? Did the movie capture the fractured earth, the plastic bag-choked bits of green amidst the ever-present brown?

I went to Kibera for the first time shortly after I arrived in Kenya to visit Red Rose School. I wore the wrong shoes, and was cautioned that were I ever to go through the gate next to the school that beckoned into the depths of the slum I better make sure my feet were covered. I’ve been back many times since to the inner Toi market (fabulous used clothing market, I have a friend who got an authentic Louis Vuitton for under $1) and Makina market where my tailor is. All these visits allowed me to say, “yes, I’ve been to Kibera” though none of them in anyway conveyed the reality of the place I visited for the first time today. The border does not betray the inner sanctum’s reality. No, it does not

It is hard to reconcile my ability to see the beauty, joy and goings on of life in the slum, with the revolting site you have to process in order to know it must be changed. The land is sucked of the green. The water is scarce, the trash unbelievable. Children meander through filth, shining their glorious youth and innocence in order to make it human, to make it bearable.

There is music, constant music. There are babies being held, old men shooting the shit, hunched grandmas walking together. It is life, at the same time as it should, and never should, be.”

Megan MacDonald Nairobi, Kenya 8th June 2009.  From Megan’s blog “There She Goes”.