There was a round of mass immunization against polio in 19 of Uganda’s districts last weekend. Cases of polio have been registered in some of the countries bordering to Uganda. The districts around Lake Victoria, where people travel to and from other countries by the lake, were therefore prioritized in the immunization round.

Nyenga Children’s Home lays in one of these districts. The health center therefore took part in the immunization exercise. Justine, the nurse at the health center, was a supervisor for an area close to Nyenga, while Ragnhild, a volunteer at the health center, participated in the immunization in Kabizzi and the neighboring village of Wankwale.

The immunization was organized as a house-to-house exercise. Ragnhild and a health inspector therefore went to each and every house in Kabizzi and Wankwale. Another volunteer at the children’s home, Andrea, also took part in the immunization in Kabizzi. To be sure that all the households were visited they were assisted by a representative from the local community. These representatives are in the local counsel for the respective villages and have an overview of where the borders of the village are and who is living where.

Children below 5 years received two drops of oral polio vaccine. Some parents were grateful that their children were immunized, while others refused to let their children receive the vaccine. They were afraid it would hurt them. Others again agreed to let the children be immunized after some persuasion. During three days the team reached 300 households and immunized 350 children in the two villages.