REFLECTIONS FROM A DREAM TEAM MEMBER

Yesterday, I received the following reflective message from Jill Olsen, one of our DREAM TEAM members, who addressed her area President-Elect Training Seminars out in Minneapolis.


Rotary Dream Team India 2010
In a remote northern Indian village teeming with people on a hot Sunday morning in
February, we staged a rally to remind the citizens that the information on the yellow
banners literally plastered everywhere was true.
This was the day to bring your child to a booth to be immunized for Polio.
The village had about as many camels as cars, and we women decided that despite
the heat, we would cover our heads in deference to local customs. Two weeks
previous on January 13, another polio case was confirmed in this village.
We were assigned in pairs: I worked with a Rotarian from Alaska. It was difficult to
address my own anxiety as the assignments were made.
Would I get this right?
Two drops.
Vial at a 45degree
angle.
If the child spit any out, adjust with another drop.
Document the number,
mark the little finger.
Now we were making our way through the crowd to the site. People surged around
us, curious about these pink‐skinned strangers in their midst. We put our hands
together in the gesture of Namaste meaning, "I see God in you".
And people responded with a similar gesture and a smile.
Then we were at the site: for us an elementary school courtyard.
And they came to us:
brown eyed,
Innocent
Some willing, some guided,
some held by a sibling or a parent
Some swaddled only a few days old,
some toddling,
Some smiling and happy
some crying and resisting…
Each a sacred life
Children like our children or our grandchildren
Who, like ours, had the right to do the simplest child things:
Run
Chase a ball
Turn a summersault,
Breathe
Just two little drops
One by one the children with brown eyes came
Brown eyes‐‐who will not shed tears because they are unable to play with their
friends
Brown eyes‐‐who will not see the anguish of a parent who must deal with a crippled
child
Just two little drops: the juxtaposition of scientific research and the miracle of
Rotary support
To each child I whispered “No more polio”
and I thought of my club in Cedar Rapids.
I remembered the programs when we talked about and worked for Polio Plus
And now with each child,
I felt my club members’ hands on my shoulders.
“Get it right, Jill.”
“We have all worked for this.“
I maintained my Nordic stoicism until we were finished.
And then I wept in gratitude
For the beautiful brown eyed children
For the privilege of doing this,
And for the Rotary dream of eradicating Polio
Two drops at a time.
Namaste
to all of you
who work for Rotary.