In preparation for our departure on February 9th, members of our ROTARIANS FOR HOPE - INDIA 2007 Team are obtaining their necessary immunizations, checking to make sure that their Passports and VISAS are in order, and beginning to pack for the trip.
We all will be arriving in Newark on February 9th, and gathering at the Continental Airlines Terminal, and checking our bags through for this non-stop 16+ hour flight from Newark to New Delhi. Each of us has different motivation which pushes us forward to participate in these programs, and we all realize how very blessed we are to have the support of our families and friends to set out on such a venture.
The day after we arrive in New Delhi, we will join members of the Rotary Club of Delhi-West, and then drive into the oldest sections of Delhi, where we will work with other volunteers to help to immunize children against polio. This is all a part of Rotary International's efforts to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. National Immunization Days are held in several countries throughout the world, but most particularly in India and the other three areas where polio is endemic. Children under the age of five will be immunized a minimum of two times over a period of a few months, to ensure that this virus is prevented from being passed from one human being to another. In past years on the NIDs, well over 150 MILLION children have been immunized all in one day!
Following the NID, we will then travel west of New Delhi to a village - Chahalka, where we will work for the rest of the week, serving as common laborers to help construct a water sanitation facility, to provide safe and clean drinking water for the people of the village. At present, ladies are forced to wash their dishes and clothing in water provided by a sewage sump, with the further tainted water trickling into a stream that flows through the elementary school playground.
In the coming days, and throughout the trip, we will continue to share our thoughts and experiences, through these postings, along with photographs, in the hopes that family and friends will get a real sense of our mission, and to obtain feedback from you all.
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