Karen Teichman administers the polio vaccine to a child in Uttar Pradesh, India.

By Karen Teichman, a past district governor and member of the Rotary Club of Lewisburg Sunset, Pennsylvania, USA

One of my teammates on a National Immunization Day trip to Uttar Pradesh, India, snapped this picture while I wasn’t looking. Giving these drops was like a religious moment for me – I was holding back tears thinking about the child’s life I was helping save. 

This one little crying child, and others that day, made for some amazing work as a result of our Rotary Foundation.

You often see photos of others giving the dose of oral polio vaccine, but when you do it yourself, it is a truly remarkable experience. An Indian Health worker was working with me. The little boy was crying; but we got the job done!  We worked and worked until the vaccines ran out that day. The health department returned the second day to finish the village off, yeah.

This day, in this remote village, in a very, very poor area of India, became one of the best days of my Rotary life.

• Share your voice and find other ways you can help us end polio
  
• Read about the experiences of an immunization team in Chad