Wadebridge Rotarian Paul Brocklebank and his wife Patricia, who have returned from India after participating in the above programme offer a first-hand account of the experience:

"Way back in April 2009 at our National Conference in Edinburgh, Patricia and I volunteered to support the Indian National Immunisation Day (NID). For once in our lives, we wanted to give practical help rather than just putting a hand in our pockets for a donation.

A short visit to southern India, some 11 years ago, gave us an inkling of what to expect, but landing at Delhi Airport where the air is thick with dust and pollution was an uncertain start to an unforgettable life experience. A short flight took us to Lucknow, the city where we were joining local Rotary Clubs to attend booths dispensing the 2 drops of vaccine to children under the age of 5. Fortunately, we had local health workers to confirm the children’s age as many older kids were only too willing to have the drops just to receive the small gifts which were being handed out. The area around our booth was one of the worst slums in Lucknow and the appearance of ‘white’ faces in bright yellow t-shirts was an irresistible attraction.

The street children frequently suffer from diarrhoea because of the poor sanitation and need booster drops every 6/8 weeks. Many families tend to migrate in order to find work, which spreads Polio to areas that have previously been cleared. The task to eradicate Polio in India is daunting and we had nothing but admiration for the efforts being made by both the Government and Rotary. The following day, we attended a ‘Mop Up’ in the slums where health workers approach each dwelling to ascertain whether the infants have been immunised. The results of their findings were chalked up on the wall with the dreaded ‘R’ indicating refusal or ‘X’ which meant ‘not in’. These dwellings would be revisited until the vaccination programme had been administered. Patricia spoke to a health worker and found that there was an on-going problem with Muslims as a rumour had been circulated that the vaccine could make the infant males ‘important’. Somewhat puzzled by this, she made further enquiries and established, to everyone’s amusement, it was ‘impotent’ not important! But in fact the local Muslim Leader had been persuaded to refute these rumours and instructed parents to have their babies vaccinated. Although the living conditions were appalling, the children were lively and full of mischief and they gave us a real lesson in humility. So often we complain about life in Britain, but our water supply is clean and readily available and our streets are free of excrement."