Blackened pinkies- they’re in vogue…
Once a month, in train stations, at schools, in slums, at the markets, there’s a search for clean pinkies. If spotted, they don’t stay clean for long. They’re quickly tarnished by a UNICEF worker. No clean pinkies are allowed for little boys and girls. Blackened pinkies are the vogue these days.
Because blackened pinkies are the mark of a child who’s been vaccinated for polio.
Tracking a child in a world without hospital records, school registration forms, and even birth certificates at times is a tough task. But that’s the target of health workers in UP and Bihar in India. They plough through neighborhoods, trek through farms to rural homes, attend local schools, and weave through train stations, looking for newborns and young children (ages 5 and below).
With populations nearing one million in these ‘small’ cities, the challenge is monumental. Plus, women on the periphery of town, in the rural areas, have children without hospital care or even a midwife. There’s no record for these children- who are they? where do they live? when were they born? who are their parents? These details aren’t easily found in medical forms.
They don’t all go to school either; in fact, many don’t. They spend their days wandering about the neighborhood with children their age, trying to keep themselves amused. Some follow their parents to work- a roadside shop perhaps. So, how do you find them? How do you track them? They don’t have a seat in school. They’re not on a roll call sheet.
And then, there are the migrants. Smoke spews from factories along the main road, factories for brick-making. At base of these towers, workers take root albeit for just a few months. In tents, they live with their families. And once their term at that kiln is finished, they’ll migrate to a different one- and they’ll take their children with them. Another labourer will arrive. He may have a wife. He may have a child too. But, again, there’s no record for that child. People are easily replaceable in the brick-making business.
So, how do you track those without roots? How do you track people who are constantly on the move?
That’s where blackened pinkies help. They may move ten kilometers away or to the other side of the state, but the child’s pinky will remain blackened- a sign that he/she’s been vaccinated for polio.
The polio virus doesn’t always manifest itself. But it remains alive and relies on carriers. Children are its vehicle to go from one body to another, one neighborhood to another, one state to another. Like any other virus, it doesn’t respect boundaries. That’s why it’s crucial to vaccinate every child. But in a country of millions of children, that’s no easy venture.
Local Rotary clubs have joined the trend- painting pinkies. So many of our friends who have returned from these trips are now painting pinkies at events, honoring those who donate to this cause. Whether it’s a penny or a grand, each one is entitled to a painted pinky. Join the cause. Contact a local Rotary club and see if they’re participating. I’m sure they’d be happy to stain your finger for polio.
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