While thousands of Rotarians helped greatly in the field today, perhaps our most important contributions are the extensive social mobilisation and our public leadership in convincing the government that a national immunisation program was essential-and possible. A health worker ensures that this child will not get polio. Rotarian Gupta, 1993-94 president of the Rotary Club of Banaras, coordinated the Rotarian volunteers who staffed more than 200 immunization booths. In the countryside villages encircling Varanasi, many farmers still plow their land with teams of oxen and women cut rice with hand scythes. People get water from a communal hand pump, and only a few homes have electricity, much less televisions or radios.
Most adults are illiterate.
Most of the club's 25 charter members were on hand at an immunization booth set up in a factory. We will be out in full force doing whatever we can to get children to the immunisation booths. We will provide transport, take care of record keeping, bring lunches to the workers, and try to keep order. Maintaining order at many Varanasi immunization booths was easier said than done. With a small group of Rotarians, she visited more than a dozen village and city booths, and everywhere attendance was high.