I am delighted to be a new resident of Ponte Vedra. One of my major concerns when I moved here was finding a Rotary Club in the area. I’ve been a member of Rotary for 20 years, and I wanted the opportunity to continue to serve the community in which I reside.
Not too long after I moved here, I was fortunate to meet Kelly Sastre, the president of the Rotary Club of Ponte Vedra. Her enthusiasm was a hook and she reeled me right in.
In Rotary, there is the opportunity to serve in a variety of venues. One of my personal objectives was to join the fight to eradicate polio worldwide.
Polio does still exist. Years ago, I was preparing for my trip to Africa. It was an expectation that I would receive specific shots. I was taken aback when my physician suggested that I also get an inoculation for polio, per recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control. When I was in grade school all children received polio inoculations. I’d not heard of polio for many years.
I was walking down a street, shopping in Nairobi and in sensory overload. I caught a sight of something in my periphery. It took a moment for me to recognize what I was seeing. It was a gentleman kneeling on a small pallet with four wheels attached to the bottom for mobility. He was wearing gloves to protect his hands from injury as he pushed himself along the sidewalk. This gentleman had been crippled by polio. It was proof that the CDC's warning was valid.
Though the sight was disarming, I must admit his challenge wasn’t a priority for me. My focus was to embrace as much of Africa as I could. I was excited and I had a whole new world to discover in Africa.
Not long after my return to the United States, I accepted an invitation to go to a breakfast meeting of the local Rotary Club, an international service organization providing humanitarian service around the world. I'd not heard of Rotary and out of curiosity I accepted.
As it turned out, it was the “right time, right place” for me. The presentation was information on the status of Rotary’s International project. I learned that in 1979 a Rotary Club in the Philippines committed to the complete eradication of polio. The program was such a success that Rotary International chose the project as their worldwide major project.
Since 2007, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed to financially aiding in the project donating millions of dollars. As of this date, Nigeria has one more year of no new cases when they can be deemed free of Polio. The only countries remaining are Afghanistan and Pakistan. The end of the existence of Polio is near.
More information on Rotary or The Global Polio Eradication Initiative can be found at Rotary.org.
