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Focus for 2008
Post-Polio Health International is collaborating with Polio Survivors and Associates (PSA), a Rotarian Action Group, in asking polio survivors and post-polio support organizations to contact the local Rotary Club with an offer to speak during WE'RE STILL HERE! week.
How do you find your local Rotary Club?
According to Ray Taylor, Founder of PSA and longtime Rotarian, there are several ways to find your local club.
- Contact the Features Editor of your local newspaper.
- Look in the phone book under "Rotary." I found the number in the Business section of the Saint Louis phone book.
- Ask your friends. They may be Rotarians.
- Email Ray Taylor at raytaylor@mindspring.com.
What is the purpose of the presentation?
The purpose is to:
- Introduce Rotarians to the late effects of polio that are affecting those who did not receive the vaccine.
- Remind them of the accomplishments of polio survivors who received rehabilitation but that many now need re-rehabilitation.
- Remind them of the architectural and attitudinal barriers preventing polio survivors from being active members of society.
- Acknowledge their ongoing efforts to eradicate acute polio from the world.
Other great ideas in the works …
Manuscript for Post-Polio Players – The brainchild of Vera Moore, Mobile Area Post-Polio Support Group, this fast-moving script of polio survivors chatting before their support group meeting raises post-polio issues in a personal way. The short script, which can be modified to fit any area's history, is easy and fun for groups to produce. Book the production for Rotary meetings, church and community action groups, school assemblies, social interest groups. Schedule a Q&A session after the skit. The script needs minimal props, set and characters. Download the script above.
Virtual Workshop – The Polio Society, Washington, DC, is developing a virtual seminar/support group to be offered during the week of October 12-18, 2008. Polio survivors and their loved ones and caregivers will be able to register for this free program by mail or through the Polio Society website. The only cost will be a long-distance phone call to the telephone bridge line. Contact the Polio Society online (www.poliosociety.org) or by phone (301-897-8180) for additional details.
Like This Idea? Want to Use It? – One idea for this year's WE'RE STILL HERE! campaign is to make buttons (like campaign buttons) for everyone in the group to wear. How about a simple rectangular button, bright green background with white letters, as our logo looks, with nothing more than the provocative words WE'RE STILL HERE! on it? Wearers would be stopped by curious bystanders and then could talk about the late effects of polio and this year's WE'RE STILL HERE! campaign. A local ad agency can make these for $1 apiece when buying 100 of them. There are also kits in a craft shops. Let's us know if your group chooses this neat idea.
WE'RE STILL HERE! Home Base – Post-Polio Health International's website (www.post-polio.org) is home base for facts, ideas and latest updates on the WE'RE STILL HERE! campaign and will have links to all participating groups. As plans develop, send them to director@post-polio.org to be added to the WE'RE STILL HERE! section of www.post-polio.org.