Polio in India
Throughout the past 20 years, the Rotary Clubs of India have made an enormous effort to promote polio vaccines for children. Because of their relentless work, polio is almost totally eradicated.

Yet there remains about 5 million children and adults in India who have already experienced the crippling effects of polio. Many of them live in small and remote villages in impoverished conditions. Their suffering is a tragedy.

Due to superstition and fear, uneducated people believe that polio is a curse of God, and can only be cured by divine intervention. The polio-disabled often go without treatment- many of them confined to the house and ostracized from normal interaction by their own family. Because the limbs are deformed, the disabled are often treated as lacking in intelligence and abilities.

Polio Rehabilitation Center
In 1988, with the financial help of the Rotary Club of Whitby, the Rotary Club of Madras established a rehabilitation center to alleviate the suffering of the polio-disabled and help them to lead an independent and productive life. The center provides free corrective surgery, physiotherapy and calipers to aid in walking. They also provide free vocational training in tailoring, secretarial work and computer programming.

Because of a restriction of funds, the center did not have any provision for meals for the disabled children with the exception of breakfast for the children in the surgery ward.

Our Program
Tripura Foundation is now providing a large and nutritious lunch for all the children at the center, along with a few parents, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Currently we are feeding about 65 to 75 children each day at a cost of Rs.15 or 34 cents per meal.

On Saturdays, we visit the center and personally hand out the meals. This gives us the opportunity to interact with the children and encourage them in their progress. The smiles on the faces of the children are the greatest reward- they are truly some of the most courageous heroes in India.