Two young individuals, Alyssa Folston and Nicole Smith, represented the newly forming Rotaract Club of Bullhead City1 while attending a “PolioPlus2 Trip” to Caborca, Sanora, Mexico. On Saturday, February 14, 2015 the two individuals worked with local Caborca Rotarians and nurses to administer polio3 vaccinations to children ages five and under in surrounding poverty-stricken communities.
The Caborca PolioPlus trip, with combined Arizona and California participation, was established approximately twelve years ago. Prior to combining efforts, each group operated separately. For 2015, this annual trip had fifty-three attendees and twenty-two Rotary-based clubs represented. There were nine Rotary clubs from California, ten Rotary clubs and two Rotaract clubs from Arizona (Bullhead City and Kingman were the only Rotaract clubs in attendance), and one Rotary club from Louisiana. A total of 181 children were immunized from communities around Caborca, Sanora, Mexico.
Also, during this weekend journey the attendees, and their correlating clubs, raised roughly $6,000 for the Children’s Medical Fund. This medical fund was established approximately eight years ago, and in that time it has helped more than forty children in the Caborca area with severe medical issues. In addition, the attendees witnessed the completed water tank project, accomplished with a joint effort from Rotarians and tank manufacturer, Subvencion Global in Mexico. The tank volume is 10,500 gallons, and provides a clean water source for approximately 350 families.
A documentary created by Ryan Abella, with Kingman’s Rotaract Club (“Route 66 Trailblazers”) is found at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJ1Mg9m6RI&feature=youtube
Another video compilation created by Aaron Fritz, with a Rotary E-Club and representing Gilbert, AZ is found at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfZzpIXCNgg&feature=youtu.be
More than one million Rotary members have donated their time and personal resources to end polio. Every year, hundreds of Rotary members work side-by-side with health workers to vaccinate children in polio-affected countries.
1 Rotaract Club of Bullhead City is a non-profit organization (sponsored by Rotary Club of Bullhead City) for ages 18-30, to fill the void in our community. Mission Statement: “The Rotaract Club of Bullhead City takes pride in providing a lively environment to enhance the knowledge and skills of future leaders. We think globally, act locally and form life-long friendships while coming together to better our community.” The club is still very new and is still looking for founding members to officially charter the organization, and the current members hope to continue this international PolioPlus project to Mexico in future years.
2PolioPlus: Rotary launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication, in 1985. Since then, Rotary and its partners have helped reduce the number of annual cases from 350,000 to fewer than 250 and remain committed until every child is safe from the disease. Rotary has contributed more than US$1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $9 billion to the effort.
3Poliomyelitis (polio) is a crippling and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in parts of the world. The polio virus invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age, but mainly affects children under five.
People of Action