January 2006 - Darcy Wells travels to India

From January 5 to 19, 2006, Columbia Rotary Club 2005-06 President Darcy Wells traveled to the State of Uttar Pradesh in India to participate in a polio-eradication Sub-National Immunization Day on January 15.

She was part of a group of 36 Rotarians who traveled to India from the United States and Canada. Uttar Pradesh State is located east and north of Delhi, and the group gave immunizations in areas where polio cases are still being discovered.

The group was privileged to meet Rotarians in the cities of Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi. They toured these cities, attended Rotary meetings, and visited club project sites and individuals' homes before separating into groups of four for the Immunization Day activities. Darcy traveled by car with her three teammates (and a driver who could not speak English) from Delhi to Muzaffarnagar. There they stayed in the home of a Rotarian and participated in polio immunization activities for four days. Darcy says, "We were treated like royalty, and I will never forget the hundreds of people I met."

Darcy's trip is also mentioned on the International Service Page, along with the club's other international service projects.

Three of Darcy's favorite photographs from the trip appear below.

The youngest member of Darcy's four-person team, Charlie Hawks, age 11, administers polio immunization drops to a child. Charlie traveled to India with his mother and was a real asset to the team. Darcy says, "Our Indian friends called him Master Charlie."

This photograph shows two of the first children Darcy immunized, together with their parents. Each child had the nail of his or her pinky finger stained once they had received the polio immunization drops.

This photograph shows a Muslim elder and a group of children from an area Darcy's group visited the day after the National Immunization Day. The goal was to locate children, by going door-to-door, who had not been immunized the day before. Darcy says, "It was rewarding seeing so many colorful pinky fingers."