Purple 4Polio

Stonehouse Park Junior School and Stonehouse Rotary Club

Purple 4 Polio Project

For 30 years Rotary has been working hard to rid the world of Polio a terrible viral disease that has no cure and can and does kill or severely disable children.

Working with partner organisations we have nearly got rid of this disease – the number of cases have reduced by 99.9% since 1985 and there are only 3 out 125 countries in the world where the disease is still present. But as always the final step is often the hardest and we must complete the job.

Polio is prevented by a vaccine – of special importance to us here in Gloucestershire as it was Edward Jenner, a GP from Berkeley, who discovered vaccination and started the marvellous process of ridding the world of Smallpox – the first terrible viral illness to be eradicated for ever.

SO,  POLIO CAN BE ERADICATED FOR EVER WITH YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT!!

Children across the world still have to be vaccinated regularly to prevent Polio – it could always make a comeback whilst there are cases somewhere in the world. (Unlike Smallpox which is now thankfully gone forever!). When they are vaccinated in many places they have their little finger (‘pinkie’) dyed with a purple ink to show the doctors and nurses who has and has not had the vaccine. Rotary use the ‘purple pinkie’ to represent our work and plant purple crocuses to remind everyone of what has been done and what needs to be done.

By planting some purple crocuses at school – hopefully to flower in February for End Polio Day – and taking home a pot of 5 crocuses to enjoy and then plant you too will be thinking of all the children around the world who have been saved from getting this terrible disease and remember the work that still needs to be done to finish the job.

See the slide show or Rotarian Charles Buckley who led the presentation at Park Junior School,  and the school ECO-Council students who were busy planing crocus near the school entrance and flag pole.   And then some later photos form March 2017 - the crocus are up and doing well.   Support frrm the School ECO Council stukdents and Head Richard Gasser.

Learn more of Purple 4Polio here.