Reese proudly marched herself to the rotary counter today to donate her dollar to the purple pinkie campaign at Cooper Elementary, today. Her purple pinkie represents a life of a child across the globe that she spared from the horrors of Polio. Way to go, girlie!
First, watch this video. Yeah, I know that's annoying, but I cannot get blogger to let me embed it, so you have to click the link. Do it though, cuz it is totally worth your 5 minutes.
Are you totally stoked to eradicate Polio?! Not yet?
Well, what if I give you an update on Uttar Pradesh, the state that was shown in the video, where many of India's 1,000 cases of Polio were reported in 2009-2010? Uttar Pradesh is one of the states where Rotary and Humanitarian Volunteers have been taking the Polio vaccine DOOR to DOOR during quarterly national immunization days. Door to door in India. Can you imagine?
It paid off.
There have been ZERO cases of polio reported in Uttar Pradesh since April 2010 (source). Zero!
All because of wonderful volunteers, an available live vaccine, and the funds raised by the End Polio Now campaign. This Friday is Purple Pinkie Day at Reese's school. I can't wait, and I hope my local friends will participate. It is $1, and it is saving lives.
In many countries, when children are given the Polio Vaccine, their pinkie nail is stamped with purple dye.
Did you know that the polio vaccine is live and must remain cold, or it will spoil?
The effort involved in manufacturing, transporting, and administering the Polio vaccine to the ends of the earth so it can be available to everyone, is pretty beautiful (Don't worry, this video is a happy success story, not a sad one about the horrors of Polio)
Incredible, right?
After 25 years of organizing and hosting national immunization days and administering BILLIONS of vaccines worldwide, efforts are finally paying off.
Polio has been 99% eradicated!
That is something to celebrate.
But what about the one percent? Really. ONE percent is keeping a disease from being totally stamped out, forever.
The problem is that one percent can turn back into two percent, then grow to 3 percent, then five percent, then ten percent. And then we've got a problem. But right now, it's only one percent. We are so close to never having to worry about Polio again!
Immunity works as a blanket protection and I can't have holes in the blanket around my children. I refuse to contribute to the 1% keeping Polio alive, so I've painted my pinkie purple, and I am spreading awareness by telling everyone I know that vaccines are safe.
They are safe. You know that, right? If you don't know that...please, call me. Let's talk.
I'm keeping my pinkie purple until the official Purple Pinkie Day on February 23, which is when I hope you'll bust out the nail polish, and join me in the fight to raise awareness for vaccines, and stamp out Polio forever.
Reese proudly marched herself to the rotary counter today to donate her dollar to the purple pinkie campaign at Cooper Elementary, today. Her purple pinkie represents a life of a child across the globe that she spared from the horrors of Polio. Way to go, girlie!
