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Ethiopia Bound
BBRC members Margie Burnett, Jim Owens, and Kim Shrader boarded a flight to Ethiopia on Sunday, October 20, beginning a 13-day odyssey serving Rotary on the Polio Eradication Project. A group of 80 Rotarians from District 5030 embarked on this important activity, armed with oral polio vaccines for two million children, ages 5 and under, who haven’t yet been vaccinated. The World Health Organization and UNICEF are co-sponsors of the project.
Along with District Governor Rosemary Aragon, the team will administer vaccines to groups of children identified by an earlier census. Ethiopia is one of the ten endemic polio countries targeted by Rotary in its effort to eradicate the disease by the year 2005. Additional vaccination projects will follow, with the goal of reaching all 14 million children identified as not having received the vaccine.
In addition to protecting children from polio, each member of the group – all contributing their personal resources to cover the trip expenses--will bring an extra piece of luggage filled with children's clothing, medical supplies, school supplies, books – even candy. While in Ethiopia, the group will visit numerous humanitarian projects funded by District 5030 and its Rotary Clubs (including a new library, replacing a library destroyed during the 1970's).
Also joining the entourage are Assistant Governors Bea Clark, Howard Stirk, and Don Gregory, along with DGE John Gardiner, and PDG’s Bob Wilson and John Rasmussen.
The group is due to return on November 2nd.
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