For 43 years, Shui-Sen Hsu has given generously to his community as a member of the Rotary Club of Taipei Northwest, Taiwan. At the Rotary Institute in Taipei on 18 October, Hsu, 92, and his wife, Pei-Tsen, were recognized for their family's latest act of generosity, a contribution of more than $1 million to Rotary's US$100 Million Challenge in support of polio eradication.
 
The donation was made by the Hsu Family Foundation. Jane Hsiao, Hsu's daughter and   president of the family foundation, said the donation was made in honor of her father's Rotary legacy, which includes establishing an educational foundation for children and several community organizations.
 
Hsiao said the contribution came about after discussions she had with a former classmate, Chang (Medicare) Hsu, district governor of 3480 (Taiwan). Having launched the Hsu Family Foundation two years ago to support advancements in the field of medicine, Hsiao saw the polio donation as a good way to honor her father.
 
"Their generous contribution toward Rotary's ongoing efforts to eradicate polio is helping to Make Dreams Real," said RI President Dong Kurn Lee in recognizing the family's contribution.

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On the eve of Afghanistan's 19-21 October National Immunization Days, Past District Governor Stephen Brown had an extraordinary opportunity to witness the country's end polio drive in action.
 
Brown and Fary Moini, members of the Rotary Club of La Jolla Golden Triangle, California, USA, were in Afghanistan to help develop Rotary humanitarian and educational projects. They were invited by Dr. Ajmal Pardis, chair of the country's National PolioPlus Committee and a member of the Rotary Club of Jalalabad, to a 15 October meeting of Islamic leaders, or mullahs, in Jalalabad. The meeting emphasized the importance of the polio eradication initiative and linked immunization against the disease to the duties of parents to protect their children, as explained in the Quran.
 
"The most interesting speech to us was from a powerful Taliban mullah, Imam Abdul Wakil, who talked very passionately about the importance of this effort," reported Brown in his online journal. "He was clearly very well spoken and everyone was on the edge of their seats listening to him. There were about 40 mullahs present, about 30 elders, about 10 students from the Taliban madras [Islamic] school, and local and national media."
 
At an NID kickoff event, Brown gave a short speech and administered oral polio vaccine to a child. He and Moini also gave a general briefing to USAID staff in Afghanistan to let them "know about efforts of Rotary that tend not to show up on our government's radar," Brown reported. "I think those attending were surprised at how much we have been able to accomplish primarily through a volunteer network."

In 1958, the United States was well on its way to winning the battle against polio. Mass immunization using the Salk vaccine had succeeded in decreasing the number of cases by more than 90 percent from the peak of 58,000 cases in 1952. Field trials of the Sabin oral vaccine had just begun.
 
That same year, the Polio Hall of Fame was established by the Georgia Department of Labor's Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation. Seventeen pioneering heroes in the early battle against polio were inducted into the hall, including former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and vaccine inventors Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin.
 
On 14 November, to commemorate its 50th anniversary, the Polio Hall of Fame inducted as members the four spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative: Rotary International, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.
 
The induction ceremony featured special guest speakers Dr. Peter Salk, eldest son of Jonas Salk, and Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton, a former Warm Springs polio patient and recipient of Rotary's Polio Eradication Champion Award. The inductee organizations are honored on a large bronze plaque detailing their contributions to ongoing polio eradication efforts.

Rotarians in over 200 cities and villages in Switzerland mobilized on 13 September, National Day Against Child Paralysis, to sell packets of sunflower seeds for US$0.75 cents each in support of Rotary's challenge. Endorsed by local political leaders and health officials, the effort raised more than US$669,000, according to initial reports. "Together, Rotary Switzerland/Liechtenstein intends to raise one million Swiss Francs, or over $900,000 for this goal," says Andreas Kleeb, a member of the Rotary Club of Zug-Zugersee. 

 

 

 

 Hans Wiesner, of the Rotary Club of Red Deer East, Alberta, Canada, trekked the 626-mile (1007-kilometer) Via de la Plata in Spain in the Walk to Beat Polio. All proceeds from his journey along the famous 2,000 year-old pilgrimage trail, which began on 6 October and ended on 9 November, went to Rotary's challenge. As of 19 November, his "feat" had raised nearly C$33,375 (US$26,994). For more, go to www.haloranch.ca

 

If you need a fundraising idea:

Polio survivor Ramesh Ferris completed his 7,110-kilometer (4,350-mile) hand-cycle journey across Canada on 1 October, raising C$299,136 (US$251,522)(as of 17 October). His Cycle to Walk Society raises money to fight polio and boost awareness of the disease. Of the total netted by his trans-Canadian journey, 75 percent went to Rotary's US$100 Million Challenge. For more, go to www.cycletowalk.com.

 

 The Rotary Club of Cupertino, California, USA, held a jazz fusion concert featuring Indian musicians who played the sitar, flute, saxophone, guitar, and tabla (drums). More than 1,600 people turned out for the 11 October event, which raised appromimately $25,000 for Rotary's challenge. "Since the Bay area has a large population of people from India [one of four polio-endemic countries], we thought that we should collectively do our part to wipe this terrible disease off the face of the earth," said Cupertino Rotarian Mahesh Nihalani.