Polio Plus

John Palotta was a polio victim living right here in Tasmania. He had use of only three fingers on his right hand. He spent most of his life in a wheelchair. Despite his disability, he built an amazing model village, replicas of buildings in Chillam and Kent in England, his home town. Tiny figurines bring the village to life.

The village is made of matchsticks and dental plaster and John painted them with his mouth. It took 11 years to build. Sadly John Palotta died in 1979 but his village lives on, lovingly restored and housed at Brookfield Vineyard.

Not long ago Polio affected 125 countries. The world was paralyzed by the fear of polio. Thousands of families watched in anguish as the disease killed or crippled 1,000 people a day, most of them children. Reported cases were about 350,000 per year.

In 1985 Polio Plus was launched. It was a multi-million dollar initiative to immunize all the world’s children against Polio.

For 20 years Rotary and its spearheading partners – The World Health Organisation, UNICEF, and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention – have worked tirelessly to rid the world of the wild polio virus. Polio is now in only four countries, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan and now there are only 2,000 cases per year. Although tremendous progress has been made, the world is not yet polio free.

The greatest challenge today is financial. In recognition of Rotary’s resolve to eradicate polio and its extensive volunteer network, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Rotary a US$100 million grant. In turn, Rotary have committed to match that grant over the next three years.

So the Rotary Club of D’Entracasteaux are grabbing this opportunity to get the ball rolling. Proceeds from the 2½ Days in Margate Quiz Night (part of the piano marathon at Brookfield Vineyard), the sausage sizzle, and money spinner will be going towards this great cause.

Any other donations on the weekend from members of the public will be gratefully received.