Each spring, the thousands of Crocus Corms planted by Rotarians around the UK and Ireland come up and flower – just like the ones in the photo above.
The Crocus tells a story about the day a Rotarian went to see children receiving their oral polio vaccine, and when they had swallowed their drops, their little finger was painted purple with a marker pen.
To the children, the vaccine is a good thing, and they imagine that if they go round for a second time, the ‘medicine’ will make them even better. But the Rotarians know that if the child has a purple finger – or a ‘purple pinkie’ the extra vaccine is unnecessary and would be wasted.
So each spring, we see the flowers and are reminded of our progress towards eradicating the disease. Since 01 January 2018, only 3 cases of wild polio virus have been recorded across the world – and that is a Rotary achievement.
