What's Your IQ=Impact Quotient? Let's talk about Your Impact Quotient. with Nancy Barbee
This podcast will introduce interesting topics in a series format. Hear all about polio, Rotary projects, entrepreneurs, travelers, and new technology and how they impact your life and world.
What's Your IQ=Impact Quotient? Let's talk about Your Impact Quotient. with Nancy Barbee
RID Patrick Eakes Talks Polio
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RID Patrick talks about Polio and why we should continue to eradicate this dreaded disease. He discussed the progress Rotarians have made, Polio Plus Society, fundraisers and more.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Watch Your IQ. Let's talk about our impact quotient. And today, my guest is Director Patrick Eaks. He's the director for Zones 33 and 34. And Patrick, welcome. We're going to talk about polio today. How are you doing?
SPEAKER_00I'm great, Nancy. Thank you so much for having me. This is going to be fun today.
SPEAKER_01It is going to be fun. It is going to be fun. And I see, I'm happy to see that you have the in polio now uh background on your on your screen. And I'm just delighted that you're a big supporter of polio, which I know you are. Tell me, why are we still doing this? I mean, it's been a long, long haul. Why are we still having to raise money for polio? Tell me a little bit about your thoughts about that.
SPEAKER_00Well, you're right. It's been a long haul, although a really successful one so far. And quite simply, the reason we're still raising money, we're still raising awareness, we're still dispensing drops to children is that if we were to stop, we would see ourselves returned to worldwide polio as as we were when we started this effort. So we really have no choice but to finish this job.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I can't, I couldn't agree with you more. Of course, I'm a big proponent of ending polio now. So that's that's absolutely right. Well, tell me a little bit about, you know, we're going to Pittsburgh. And I what is it? What are we doing in Pittsburgh? What is that thing that we're that Rotarians are going to there? Tell me a little bit about that summit thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so Rotary asks zones to have what are called zone institutes. We call them zone summits. They sound a little bit friendlier. And uh, for those of you who are in Rotary, these are kind of just like district conference for district governors, uh, future, current, and past district governors. And it really brings together leaders, uh, in our case, from Pennsylvania, down the East Coast of the United States, across all the Caribbean nations to the top of South America. And it's our chance to exchange ideas, to touch base on our progress, uh, to talk about the challenges we're having and really to come away uh inspired and educated and recharged, ready to get back out there and be leaders in rotary.
SPEAKER_01Well, as you know, World Polio Day is October the 24th. And we just happened to be in uh be in Pittsburgh during that day. Is there anything special going on that day in Pittsburgh?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, from the very first moment we knew we were going to Pittsburgh in 2024, and we realized that the first day of our summit would be on World Polio Day, October 24th. We knew we had to go big. I mean, how many times in our lives will we have the opening day of summit on World Polio Day in the hometown of our international president, Stephanie Yurchik, and in the city where the SOLC vaccine was developed? It was just meant to be. So, yes, we're going very big. We'll have a global live stream for one hour, a professionally produced segment there that we'll hear from the dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. President Stephanie Yurchik will be with us, other polio leaders, as well as Dr. Peter Sauk, a virologist himself, and the son of Jonas Sauk, who developed the vaccine that is uh so prominent worldwide. Um, so like I said, we're going big. We're gonna have a big polio walk uh where we will try to bring some awareness to the city of Pittsburgh about our efforts. Uh, and really it'll polio will just uh be the going theme for the entire day. We're we're we're so excited about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm excited about it too. It sounds wonderful. You you said that it was going to be live streamed. Is that is that around the world? Can people around the world see that? And how do they do that?
SPEAKER_00Yes, we will have uh a URL, we'll have a website set up where anybody in the world can join us. We hope they will. Like I said, we're going to to great extents here to to professionally produce this hour of content. Uh, and that'll be available at our uh summit website, and we can probably drop that into this uh recording afterward, make that available to people.
SPEAKER_01That sounds great. That'll be a lot of fun too. And there we then he's right, there's gonna be a lot of um a lot of information going out and a lot of discussions going out about polio. But you know, Patrick, I I've sort of been lightweight on you for a minute, so now I'm gonna get heavy, heavy duty. You know, as you know, there's been um been in Gaza, there's been polio cases that have that emerged in Gaza, and of course they they are uh they've jumped on it. But you know, someone asked me a question, why isn't Rotary involved in the Gaza um vaccination campaigns? And and what how do you answer that question? Why aren't we involved to bear?
SPEAKER_00Well, we are in the sense that we are providing funding uh to support that vaccine, but obviously, you know, that that's a highly charged political uh situation there. We are a non-political organization that's right at our core. We are we are apolitical, non-political. Um, but certainly we are we are supporting um with uh the global uh transportation and storage methods that we have to keep these vaccines cold until they're dispensed. We're supporting with our funding, and certainly we're bringing a lot of attention, a lot of uh public image efforts to be sure the world sees that even this highly charged conflict is laying down arms for a few days to take care of the children in Gaza and to really try to drop a blanket on polio there so that we don't have any more cases.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, true, exactly right. And you know, we say constantly all the time that uh it's just a plain ride away or just a just a walk across the border away. And well, it's been proven time and time again, and so uh, and that certainly did too. And and we are fundraisers, and that's what our what our and advocates for polio, and you're exactly right there too. Um, you know, World Polio, World Health Organization and UNICEF or those are the organizations that really jump on it, so that's that's good to know too. And and we do still support it, and very, very, um, very concerned about the the different cases that are happening. And of course, there are a lot of cases in Pakistan and Afghanistan too, much more than than recently. And uh, you know, I've had Rotarians and in clubs to say, well, why do we continue to do this? I mean, I know you said that it's you know we have to continue because it is our legacy, but it's also, you know, no child is safe until then. But how do we answer the questions? Well, my gosh, we're still doing this, and but then Afghanistan, Pakistan continue to grow with cases. What are what's happening? Why? Why what what what do we do about it?
SPEAKER_00It uh look, it it is frustrating. We we all hope that we would uh have this effort complete by now. Um, but polio is a worthy foe. It's uh it is a difficult foe to be. With that said, the fact that we have uh been able to reduce, let's just let's look when we started with this effort, when we had almost a thousand children a day affected by polio. And again, these aren't cases, these are children. A thousand children a day afflicted, sometimes killed uh by polio. And now we're down to this year, three or four a month. Last year it was one case per month. So, yes, it's frustrating that uh that we're not done, but we really are right on the edge of eradicating this disease. Um, and you know, we have to redouble our efforts. As we mentioned before, um, stopping at this point is not an F is not an option. If we stop at this point, uh polio will not be held at its current level. It will uh it will grow back to to become a worldwide negative force. So uh yeah, I wish we were done. I really do. But uh it just it just uh the the the stubborn part of me, it just makes me double down to be sure that we finish this job.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I agree with you 100%. Well, you know, what do you say to those non-vaxxers? I mean, even though even though we can say uh their children are not safe, but there's still a lot of people that are confused about vaccinations and very hesitant to have their children vaccinated right here in this country. So what do we say to them? What do we say to what do Rotarians tell them uh about vaccinations? Or should we even get in? That's a political issue too. So should we even get into that?
SPEAKER_00Nancy, you're right. I mean, we live in a world of misinformation and disinformation, and and that is part of our challenge uh as Rotary, along with our partners, to defeat that type of misinformation. Uh let me let me take you back a decade. There was a time in India where uh Muslim portions of the country were led to believe that the Hindu portion of the country wanted to sterilize their children. That's what this polio effort was. It was an attempt to harm their children instead of to save their children from this disease. So it takes a constant education effort. Uh, it takes uh recruiting and convincing influential people in certain communities that we are in fact there to provide assistance, that it's a humanitarian effort. There's nothing dark or nefarious about it. Uh, and you're right, in the U.S., we we do have small pockets of populations uh that uh that are anti-vax. It's it's frustrating, it it makes our job harder, uh, but I'm just as committed to being sure that those children can grow up healthy as the rest of the children who believe in vaccinations, whose families believe in vaccinations.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'd hate to say to uh we're gonna stop now. I'd hate to say to a uh a mother, well, I'm finished now, I'm not gonna vaccinate your child. So that would be a terrible message to give to anyone. But yeah.
SPEAKER_00You're a parent, I'm a parent. Uh, we've watched our children have these vaccinations, and the the sense of warmth I've got and know knowing that my child is protected from this virus is tremendous. I want every parent to know that his or her child is is going to be safe from this virus. There's enough other things in this world to worry about without leaving a preventable disease to the side. We we have to we have to take care of all our children.
SPEAKER_01That's right. You hit the nail on the head. It is preventable, 100% preventable and 100% non-curable. So that's that's you hit the nail on the head. But tell me, you've been around a lot. I mean, you've you've done a lot of um things in not only your district, but all over our zones and all over the country and all over the world. You've seen, you know, one of our goals in in uh polio eradication is funding, of course. And it's one of our goals here in in zones 33-34 is for every club to uh raise funds. And $1,500 is our is our bottom line, and we can certainly do more than that. And then um have everybody join Polio Plus Society and uh tell us a little bit about some of the fundraisers. Have you seen a lot of fundraisers going on and for polio and promotions going on?
SPEAKER_00I have. I've seen lots of creative ways to raise that $1,500. And I always encourage clubs to raise that $1,500 from the community rather than from their own pockets. And it's not that rotarians aren't generous, they could very easily give the money for the $1,500. But what's great about doing community fundraisers is we also raise awareness about our efforts. We elevate our brand, uh, Rotary and the Rotary Foundation for what we're doing to end Polio. Uh and so, yeah, I've seen a number of ways. Everything from uh bake sales to raffles. Uh as most of you are aware, when children are vaccinated, they have a pinky uh that is painted purple to indicate that they have been vaccinated. And I've seen clubs go out uh with an education effort, and actually people in the community will pay $10 to have their pinky painted purple to indicate they're a supporter of this effort. So I always encourage uh clubs to do something that's outward-facing, public facing, so that the community knows what we're doing, that we're humanitarians, and you never know. We might pick up a member or two who realizes that they'd like to be a part of this effort.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's very true, especially a lot of the young people have no idea that uh polio is still alive in the world. I mean, I didn't for a lot of years either. And and uh then I then I happened to find out once I got involved in it that my first cousin had polio as a child.
SPEAKER_00So Nancy, I've I've never known anybody with an active case, but I I have certainly friends who have lived with the after effects of polio the rest of their lives. My 18 and 21-year-old children, they don't know what polio is, it's an abstract concept, but they understand saving other children. And so I think that's why these outward-facing events are so important. You're right, they're generations who don't really know polio in the way that some of us do.
SPEAKER_01That's true, that's exactly right. Wow, how about that? Well, um Patrick, if you could say one thing to encourage uh Rotarians, one thing or two things, and about what the impact we have on polio eradication, what would you say?
SPEAKER_00I would say this. We have with our partners, we have saved millions of children from polio. So if you wanna you want to look at that on the economic impact on our world of having productive citizens, if you want to look at that on just a humanitarian, a heart basis that we have saved these children, um, this is a chance for all Rotarians to be a part of finishing this job, of saving millions of children, of saving millions of lives, uh, and making productive lives and people who can grow up to be humanitarians themselves. This is an opportunity to do something on a global scale from wherever you live. We live in relative affluence here, and this is our opportunity to make a mark on the work, to make history in the world. And so I would tell people to join us.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Now you see this. Let me see if I'm pointing it right. I always get the finger the wrong way. But we have a torch right here that was called the Rotary Flame, and it has been called the Rotary Flame. D, what's happening with that thing? Why is that there?
SPEAKER_00That torch, which was originally part of our Atlanta convention in oh, I think 2017. Um, that torch is making its way across our districts, and our districts are groups of about 50 clubs. It's making its way through the southeast, working its way up to Pittsburgh, uh, and will be brought in and will, of course, represent our ongoing commitment to finish this job. That flame burns, that means we still have work to do. Uh, it's going to be it it's it's symbolic, yes, but it's really important uh to remind us of our commitment to end this disease.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, what a great way to to uh to have awareness, and because it, you know, it is the Olympic year and and we've been seeing the Olympic tours. So this is um this is symbolic of of of the Olympics, and we're we're making sure that we don't stop until we're completely done. Absolutely right. That's great, that's great. Well, what's it like being a director? Have you gotten your feet wet really well yet?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm I guess I'm about 75 days into a two-year term, and uh it and there are a lot of aspects uh to to the role. There's obviously the corporate governance, so what goes on in the boardroom. Um, and that and that that that's great, but the really fun part is the opportunities to be with Rotarians and clubs up and down the East Coast. I will be uh in the Caribbean in the spring of 25 to make a visit there for about a week. Um, it's it's just wonderful to have the opportunity to see the way that our Rotarians make an impact every day in ways big and small in their communities, whether it's cleaning out a stream, whether it's providing hygiene products to young girls who don't have access to the products they need, whether it's supporting our polio efforts. Um, I get to see the fellowship, the fun, the service, the commitment to high ethics. I get to see it all the time. And it's just it's such an honor and a privilege to be able not only to represent these folks uh across these many states and countries, uh, but to get to become their friends. It's been wonderful.
SPEAKER_01What a great, what a great testament to uh to rotary and uh and can camaraderie and fellowship. That's great. But I know you're also supporting Polio Plus Society and you're also supporting in Polio now as we count down to history. Um, why is it important for us to join Polio Plus Society? I mean, some people don't even know about it. Why why should we do that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the Polio Plus Society asks um Rotarians and friends of Rotary to commit to give $100 a year to support this effort. For most of us, that's a very reasonable amount. Most of us spend more than that on coffee in a month. You know, and certainly we can we can cut back a little bit on our coffee, probably probably help our own health and uh and also be able to support this wonderful effort. So the Polio Plus Society is a way to um not only make a contribution to the effort, uh, but to build support, awareness, and hopefully draw others to want to make that same type of contribution. Um I've already made my $100 gift. In fact, I have a second gift of $100 on the way right now. It's so important to what we're doing. And the great thing is our gifts are matched two to one by the Gates Foundation. So when I give a gift of $100, I know it's going to become $300 gift, triple the impact because of the Gates Foundation.
SPEAKER_01Isn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_00It's an easy decision to make for most people. Uh and I'm always happy to talk about that and to let people know hey, I'm in the polio plus society. You should be too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, really, really. I wish my bank would do that two to one match too.
SPEAKER_00Where do we sign up for that from the bank?
SPEAKER_01We don't. Well, Patrick, thank you so much for being with us today. I know that um that you have a lot on your plate, and but thank you for taking the time to to come and and be on this little podcast that that we're trying out and gave a lot of great information. And thank you for supporting polio and thank you for supporting it and representing our zones uh in a big way. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00Nancy, you've been a hero of mine for a long time, especially your work in polio for well over a decade. Uh, you inspire me to want to do more, and I'm so appreciative that you're creating this new channel for people to learn about what we're doing to end polio now. So thank you.
SPEAKER_01Oh, thank you so much. Talk to you soon.
SPEAKER_00Okay, great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER_01Good to see you too.