By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Fifteen Rotary members from Canada and the United States led by Dowagiac's Dave Groner departed for Niger Monday and will be spending Thanksgiving in Africa.
In lieu of a traditional holiday, Groner's team will be spending the holiday in the West African country immunizing children against polio.
Rotary, the humanitarian service organization, has made eradicating polio its main philanthropic goal.
In addition to protecting children from polio, the team will bring 25,000 doses of a food additive called Power Flour, which is used to provide nourishment to children in famine-stricken areas.
Each team member also toted along an extra suitcase of medical supplies.
A highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis and sometimes death, polio still strikes children in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
To date, the number of polio cases has been reduced from 35,000 children annually in the mid-1980s to approximately 2,000 cases all last year.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
To follow Groner's journey, visit http://rotarynid.blogspot.com.
Team members will post journal entries, photos and videos throughout their trip.
Here's the Dowagiac funeral director's post from Nov. 20:
As a Dowagiac, Mich., Rotary club member I can volunteer with Rotary International, administer the polio vaccine to children who do not have access to vaccines, and give a mother, a family, a community, or an entire nation a polio-free community. A better chance for a healthy child, a healthy family and a better world. The simple act of delivering and administering vaccine gives me great personal joy and satisfaction.
A child's smile, seeing a mother's pride in her family, the friendship of an innocent child makes my life worth living. I so enjoy healthy, energetic children who smile and interact with me. It does not matter the child's skin color, or if the child can speak my English language. I strongly react when I encounter a suffering or sick child. It gives great discomfort, when polio is a preventable disease.
I have been a team leader on 15 polio eradication National Immunization Day Rotary international events. Most have been in India, but also Nigeria, Egypt, Mali, and previously in Niger.
Often the volunteers administer vitamins, vaccinations, assist local Rotarians in drilling deep, fresh water wells, assist in providing books, clothing and medicine to schools and orphanages or purchase wheel chairs, hospital equipment, ambulances or child corrective surgeries.
It is a joy to be working again with the Rotarians and Rotary clubs of Niger; to be able to see old friends, to be together side-by-side and to share our dreams for healthy Niger children.
Rotary clubs and Rotarians are good neighbors to children wherever they live. As a volunteer I get to experience first hand the mother's joy, her smile, a "thank you, Rotary." These small acts of international kindness can lead to a better way – a peaceful world and a more tolerant world.
I am proud to be a Rotarian, a Rotary volunteer and a supporter of Rotary International's goal for a polio-free world. My Thanksgiving and Christmas season will be very special. Thanks, Rotary.