As part of National Immunization Days aimed at vaccinating over 172 million children under the age of 5 across India, a Forest resident and Bedford Rotary Club President, Traci Blido, joined a Rotary International team of 64 volunteers from Canada, Switzerland, Australia and the United States to give Polio vaccinations in rural India in late February, 2015. 

This team joined more than 100,000 other international volunteers from Japan, Britain, Belgium and France, along with local volunteers and health officials, to carry out the two-day national campaign.

Blido travelled with the team to Nuh, Haryana, India about 43 miles from Delhi. Nuh, a predominately Muslim community, endures ongoing poverty and lack of basic public services, making it a high-risk area for diseases such as polio.

Blido was assigned to a specific village in Nuh for two days where she and several other Rotarians and health workers, were responsible to identify and vaccinate a total of 330 children within 48 hours. In the first day, the families and children came to them at a community area where they were stationed to give kids five and under the two drops of polio vaccine before sending them on their way. The next day, they went door to door in the community, marking the outside of each house or tent visited to ensure that every child was immunized in that village.

“The mission can be summarized in two words,” said Blido. “Two drops.” The vaccine is administered by two drops of vaccine in the mouth, making it possible for non-medical staff to administer. “It was amazing to see how organized this Rotary mission was to immunize all kids throughout India in a matter of days.”

Polio is a life-threatening and crippling virus, which largely attacks children under the age of five years of age. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. There is no cure for it, but it can be prevented with the polio vaccine.

Thanks to Rotary International’s commitment to end polio worldwide, India has gone from 874 new polio cases in 2007 down to no cases for the first time last year in the country. “It’s critical to have zero new cases for several years in a row before India can rest on being Polio free long-term,” Blido explained. “We need to continue the fight to end polio until it’s stamped out worldwide.”

There are still three countries where new polio cases are reported each year, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Eradication efforts in Pakistan have been hit by opposition from militants and attacks on immunization teams that have claimed 71 lives since December 2012.


http://endpolio.org/

Brookhill Farm, operated by Bedford Rotarian Jo Anne Miller, is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. It has given more than 420 horses refuge and a guarantee of lifelong care, either with new owners or at Brookhill itself. But the organization does a whole lot more. It also works with "at risk" teens to work with them to overcome their obstacles, do well in school and get the life coping skills that will sustain them in life. Read the full article here. 

The Bedford Rotary Club named Buzzy Coleman as its first “Bedford Ambassador” – an honorary recognition instituted to recognize a community member who exemplifies the Rotary motto, “Service Above Self.”

Coleman was recognized, in part, because of his commitment to the Bedford community over the last thirty years.  He was instrumental in the formation and success of the Sedalia Center through volunteer time and financial support.  Coleman and his company, Coleman-Adams Construction, Inc., contributed thousands of real and in-kind dollars in the construction of the Bedford Area YMCA facility.  He was also primarily responsible for the Patrick Henry Girls Home being located in Bedford in 1991 and he contributed to the D-Day Memorial with the funding of the FDR Memorial.  In addition, Coleman-Adams headed the following construction projects in Bedford:  The National D-Day Memorial, the Bedford Welcome Center, Bedford Elementary School, Lake Vista Corporate Center, Graves Mill Shopping Center, Greenstone Industrial Park, and Little Otter Industrial Park.

At a recent meeting of the Bedford Rotary Club, Coleman was presented with a proclamation from the Bedford County Board of Supervisors and received a gift package from Bedford area businesses. 

Rotary is an international humanitarian service organization comprised of a global network of 1.2 million members in more than 30,000 clubs in 160 countries.  Rotary clubs are nonreligious, nongovernmental, and open to every race, culture and creed.  Club membership represents a cross-section of local business and professional leaders.  Rotary clubs meet regularly and autonomous.  Each club determines their own service projects based on local needs and the interests and abilities of members.

Rotary International is the leading organization in the quest to end polio across the globe.  After 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, with only Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria still reporting cases.

Bedford Rotary has been active continuously since it was chartered in 1924.  Currently, the club meets for lunch on the first and third Fridays of the month (12:30-1:30 pm at Original Italian Pizza in Bedford) for club business, informational programs, and fellowship.  Bedford Rotary’s service projects include college scholarships, high school sports scholarships, highway beautification, and support for the Back Pack program which provides weekend meals to low income students at Bedford Primary School. 

Bedford Rotary Club welcomes new member, Stan Bennett.

The Bedford Rotary Club is hosting a GSE (Group Study Exchange) team from Taiwan this week.  While in Bedford they will be touring local sites and meeting with Rotarians and other vocational professionals throughout the area.  The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.  More information is available on the Rotary International website.

The Bedford Rotary Club is sponsoring a charity fund raiser and community service recognition award entitled “Bedford Ambassador 2013”.  Nominations for this honor are submitted from area Bedford residents who wish to honor someone in Bedford who has exemplified in his or her life a commitment to the community of ‘Service above Self’.   The recipient of “Bedford Ambassador 2013” will be announced at an awards dinner in May.