The Doll With One Eye

Every discussion on Rotary's fight against polio in India begins with one man - Past Rotary International President Rajendra K. Saboo.

He was the pioneer who gave Rotary's efforts in India a national shape, launching dedicated NIDs - National Immunization Days - when the idea of immunizing every child in a single day seemed impossible.

The journey began with a powerful symbol.

In 1991, at a UNICEF conference at the United Nations in New York, RI President Rajendra K. Saboo painted one eye of the Daruma doll, pledging Rotary's commitment to end polio. The tradition is to paint the second eye when the wish comes true."

The tradition he explained: In Japanese folklore, a child paints one eye of the doll while making a wish and paints the second eye when that wish is realised. His wish was, of course, total eradication of polio. "That Daruma doll is still waiting for its second eye, and I hope very soon an RI President will be drawing the second eye on it," he said. 

The second eye, he said, would be painted only on the day the world becomes truly polio-free.

We have travelled far since then. India is polio-free.

But our work is not done. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain endemic. As long as polio exists anywhere, children everywhere are at risk.

So the Daruma doll waits - with one eye full of hope, and one eye waiting for history.

The day we paint that second eye is not far. And it will be Rotary's finest hour.

Prime Minister opens Polio Summit tomorrow

Prime Minister of India S. Manmohan Singh shall be inaugurating the Polio Summit that opens tomorrow at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
It is for the first time that a joint summit by Government of India and Rotary International is being organised.
This is a significant event for all the Rotarians...and in fact, the entire humanity on this planet.
In India we have just completed one year when not a single polio case has been registered.
Overall, the annual number of polio cases have diminished by more than 99 percent since the initiative was launched by Rotary in 1988, when polio infected about 3,50,000 children every year.
Through Rotary efforts and active participation of the governments around the world, more than two billion children have been immunized in 122 countries, preventing five million cases of paralysis and 2,50,000 deaths.
At this stage, today, we require much more concerted endeavours to keep the status-quo...maintain the zero polio-case level, which alone can ensure a polio-free world for our children.


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Congratulations on First Year of Polio-free India

Here's a message from our RI President Kalyan Banerjee as we completed one year of polio free India. But it is the time for every Rotarian to make sure that the next two years remain polio free by stepping up our efforts in generating awareness, reaching out to the unreached population, sensitising them, and making sure that every child under 5 years receives the magic touch of Rotary through polio drops.


Rotary celebrates India’s first polio-free year. from Rotary International on Vimeo.