For this Rotarian, polio trip-opens eyes to global For most of 2008-2009, Ken Gates's Rotary commitment was to his host club: He served as president of the Columbia County club in District 5100. But in the spring, Gates was part of a team of Rotarians from four states who traveled, voluntarily, to Nigeria as part of Rotary International's two-decade-old effort to eradicate polio.
He brought the profound impact the experience had to Pearl Rotarians as the main speaker Aug. 11. Dressed in traditional African garb, Gates termed Nigeria as "the focal point" of Rotary's polio plus effort. Where once polio was a scourge in 125 countries across five continents, today–due to the teamwork of Rotary and other international organizations–polio is present in four countries. One is Nigeria, where until three years ago the disease was under control before it exploded again. Gates and his team of about 10 people had volunteered to be part of a national immunization day in northern Nigeria. But the kidnapping of a Rotary Group Study Exchange leader postponed that. But the trip went on–and for Gates involved touring medical facilities, meeting fellow Nigerian Rotarians at regular meetings and a district conference, and even having an audience with a king in the area of Kano and Kaduna. Gates (with insurance as his Rotary classification) gained much personally from the Nigeria trip. First, he said, it was a "great learning experience." He said he witnessed in the people "strength and courage in the face of adversity." The reach and power of Rotary were also impressive: "Rotary makes this planet a small, small world. I really felt that I was part of the Rotary global village." A comment the Nigerian king made to the American contingent provided another "impactful experience," Gates said. "I wish we could tell you that we could do this on our own," the king reflected, "but we can't. We need Rotary to do this job." Gates himself administered the polio vaccine to women holding their babies, during a visit to a local immunization event at a clinic. "This is why I went," he said, showing an image of him actually "doing the deed." He guided two drops from a vial into a child's mouth. Two babies who were immunized were actually the children of a mother and father who had both been crippled by polio. Gates remembers the moment as a metaphor for the declaration, "It stops here." He also noted the '08-09 international theme, "Make Dreams Real." "There is so much hope, so much desire to make these dreams come through." Appropriately, his last image on the screen before his Pearl Rotary audience was the current theme of Polio Plus: "End Polio Now." |
The Portland Pearl Rotary 
