Today we awoke to warm sunshine and the sounds of migrating birds from Siberia. After breakfasting on the patio with our host Vivek Gupta we headed to the Rotary House to meet up with the group for our big NID day. Team TN has been looking forward to this day for a long time as we'd heard so much about the huge impact these 2 drops of the polio vaccine per child can have on a community, a city and a country. After being briefed and given a brightly colored Rotary jacket and cap we piled into cars and were driven to the outskirts of town into the poorer area of the city.
Chandigarh demolished most of the slum areas and erected concrete housing blocks for those that were displaced from the slums. Each apartment has one room, 7-9 people per family, electricity and running water, including indoor plumbing. The residents pay $7 per month to live here and after 15 years the apartment belongs to them. Forty thousand folks live in this area.
The children and families had been notified that Rotary tents were being set up for the polio drop immunizations and so we were greeted by a long line of curious kids and babies under the age of 5 years (some accompanied by their mothers, others came with siblings). Our team took it in turns to give 2 drops per child and then paint the left pinkie finger purple denoting immunization. Some babies cried but most kids were happy to come and meet us, especially as we handed out candies, toys and paper sun visors!
Most of the kids stayed around to watch us and even the local teenagers came over to stare at the Americans! They'd probably never seen an American so were quite the novelty. Rob broke the ice by teaching them how to play a hand game and suddenly the kids were laughing and playing with us and smiling. After a couple of hours it was time to depart and they waved goodbye to us as we headed out of the district. We felt we'd accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. We probably saw 100+ kids and hopefully we left a good impression and a sense of goodwill in the neighborhood.
Chandigarh demolished most of the slum areas and erected concrete housing blocks for those that were displaced from the slums. Each apartment has one room, 7-9 people per family, electricity and running water, including indoor plumbing. The residents pay $7 per month to live here and after 15 years the apartment belongs to them. Forty thousand folks live in this area.
The children and families had been notified that Rotary tents were being set up for the polio drop immunizations and so we were greeted by a long line of curious kids and babies under the age of 5 years (some accompanied by their mothers, others came with siblings). Our team took it in turns to give 2 drops per child and then paint the left pinkie finger purple denoting immunization. Some babies cried but most kids were happy to come and meet us, especially as we handed out candies, toys and paper sun visors!
Most of the kids stayed around to watch us and even the local teenagers came over to stare at the Americans! They'd probably never seen an American so were quite the novelty. Rob broke the ice by teaching them how to play a hand game and suddenly the kids were laughing and playing with us and smiling. After a couple of hours it was time to depart and they waved goodbye to us as we headed out of the district. We felt we'd accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. We probably saw 100+ kids and hopefully we left a good impression and a sense of goodwill in the neighborhood.
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