End Polio Now With Ramesh Ferris

Host Joe Solway talks with polio survivor Ramesh Ferris. DGE Ramesh has dedicated his life to eradicating polio. His work has taken him around the globe. Discover his story. You will be glad you did.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Music.

Peter Tonge: 0:20

Welcome to this episode of talking Rotary. I'm Peter Tonge, and I'm a member of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg. Charles Wood, and I am Mandy Kwasnica, past president and also a member of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg. Charles Wood, we are so happy you have joined us. Peter and I are so excited for this new podcast and thankful to our many listeners. Let's start talking rotary you

joe solway: 1:00

Hi, I'm Joe Solway, guest hosting for Peter Tonge on the talking rotary zones 28 and 32 podcast. And my guest today is Ramesh virus. He was born in India in 1979 and it's six months he contracted the polio virus, paralyzing his legs for life. His birth mother gave him up to a Canadian founded orphanage where he lived for a year before being adopted by a couple in the Yukon Territory, where he still lives today. Ramesh is past president of the Rotary Club of Whitehorse rendezvous and Governor elect for 5370 as an international advocate, Ramesh has shared rotaries and polio now message with heads of state, delegates at the UN and world leaders like the Dalai Lama and in 2008 he hand cycled yes and cycled more than 7000 kilometers from Victoria BC to Cape spear, Newfoundland to raise funds and awareness for the fight against polio. Ramesh has also provided the polio vaccine personally to children in Pakistan, Afghanistan and in his birth country of India. Ramesh Farris, hello and welcome to Talking Rotary.

Ramesh Ferris: 2:13

Hello, Joe. Great to be here. Thank you very much. Let's start at the beginning describe the circumstances you were born into. Well, I was born in poverty in India, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India. And my birth mother, Lakshmi, didn't know she was to get her only child vaccinated against polio because the vaccine wasn't available to poor people in India. And because of this, 25 years after the World received Doctor Jonas Salk's 1955 polio vaccine release, I contracted polio in Southern India at the age of six months in 1980 and it paralyzed my legs for life. And you know, I was unable to walk. I was very sick. My birth mother didn't know what to do, but she knew that she didn't have the means to look after me, and so she made one of the most selfless decisions of her life, to give up her only child to a Canadian founded orphanage called families for children, and it was at this orphanage that I just lied On the ground waiting for help, and fortunately, help was on the way in the sense that I was adopted by a Canadian couple in the Yukon Territory who was my adoptive father of the end condition of Yukon, Ron Ferris and His wife Jan. And a couple of weeks prior to my scheduled arrival into Canada, my adoptive parents learned that the Canadian government's Federal Department of Immigration was denying me access to Canada, stating that I was going to cause excessive demand on health and social services. So my adoptive parents took this to the local media and white horse view con, and because of the local media, they made it into a national adoption story, and through political advocacy, I was able to come to Canada because the then Immigration Minister for the Canadian government, Lloyd Axworthy, overturned that decision, and I came on a minister a permit, paving the path for me to come to Canada on September 27 1982 touching down in Edmonton, Alberta, and I met my adoptive father for the first time at the Edmonton International Airport. And you know, I was the first finalized adoption, international adoption in the Yukon Territory. And from Edmonton, I made my way up to white horse, where I met my birth or where I met my adoptive mother and my five other adoptive siblings. And I'm the youngest out of six kids that were adopted into the forest family.

joe solway: 4:54

That's incredible, six kids, um, I'm curious, you know, you tell the story about Lloyd Axworthy, um. He's, you know, still around, um, have you ever spoken to him about that?

Ramesh Ferris: 5:06

Yeah, I was actually able to to meet up with him on my cross Canada cycle the lock campaign in 2008 and we're now Facebook friends, and we keep in touch. So it's actually quite, quite amazing how the stories come full circle, right? So, yeah, that's very

joe solway: 5:23

nice. How would you describe your life as a child then, growing up with polio in the 1980s

Ramesh Ferris: 5:30

Well, shortly after my arrival into Canada, I was able to receive corrective surgeries at the Vancouver Children's Hospital, and the rehabilitative supports, the sort of, the braces, the crutches, the walkers, and, you know, just through staying positive, not giving up, encouraged to focus on my thing, on my abilities, and focus on the things that I could be doing versus I can't be doing. I i was able to walk on my own two defeat for the first time at the age of three and a half, and then I was able to move on to walking with braces and crutches, and that's just by just being very strong and determined and not giving up. And I was able to essentially live a life like any normal kid in Canada going to school my first, my first job in the Yukon was to shovel driveways in the winter my neighborhood street that I grew up on. And I always like to say, I think I got a lot of good tips because people felt bad for me, and so they just wanted to give me a lot of a lot of extra money to shovel their driveway. But you know that that just sort of enforced that, hey, I can do anything. And I continued on with my schooling, graduated high school, and then on to a college and university in the field of social work. And you know, and there's times where I did feel sorry for myself, because, you know, I lived a life in Canada. I still do with a with a disability. And there are barriers for people living with disabilities in Canada, and one of them is equitable access, sometimes to basic community programs and services. And in the winter months, it's quite debilitating for me with managing snow and ice and, you know, on the sidewalks and accessible parking and all that. And, you know, there's days where, yeah, I feel, feel, feel sorry, but then I recall going back to India in 2002 and meeting my birth mother. And here was this opportunity where I met her, gave her thanks, as it would look her in the eye and just say, because of you and your selfless decision, I was able to walk. And that that continues to mean so much to me to this day, and I I got a glimpse in 2002 what my life could have been if I wasn't adopted. And, you know, in 2002 I saw polio survivor crawling in dirt, and I saw this fellow human being who had polio, just like me, but they didn't have what I received in Canada, the corrective surgeries and and rehabilitative supports. You know, here I'm seeing a human being crawling in dirt. And I was like, This is ridiculous. This is not acceptable, and it's not okay that we have a culture of crawlers in our world that had been affected by polio, crawling on dirty streets around the world. Yeah, and I wanted to be part of a movement that prevented the polio virus from claiming new victims. And I, you know, hadn't been involved in Rotary at all at that point in 2002 but after my return trip, I did a lot of research on polio, and that's when I learned of Rotary's dream of a polio free world and the start of polio plus. And I was quite excited, and got home to work with Rotary to raise awareness and funds for polio eradication. And so I, I actually, you know, thought of, you know, my Canadian heroes like Rick Hansen and Terry Fox, and I, I thought, Well, hey, you know they, they went across the country. Well, Rick went around the world. But, you know, they had a dream of raising funds and awareness for their causes. So spinal cord injuries and accessibility, and then with Terry Fox with cancer and treatment and prevention. And so I thought, Well, hey, I think I'd like to hand cycle across Canada to raise funds and awareness for people

joe solway: 9:55

who don't know what hand cycling is. What is that describe hand cycling?

Ramesh Ferris: 9:59

Well, yeah, so. Well, I thought I would, I'd like to, you know, take that 27 speed hand cycle and hand cycle across Canada. And, you know, a hand cycle is because my legs are paralyzed by the effects of polio. I can't use my legs, and so I can't use a traditional two wheel bike. So a hand cycle is has three wheels, one wheel on the front and two in the back, and you're sitting quite low to the ground, and it's operated, propelled all by my two hands and a 27 gears. And it takes much longer to go up hills and but you can get some really good downhills, which is nice.

joe solway: 10:39

I've seen Rick Hansen. I've been, you know, beside him, and his upper body is huge because, yeah, the strength he's needed. Do you have the same I mean, I've, you know, I've kind of seen your geek. You have the same upper body strength as he does.

Ramesh Ferris: 10:53

Well, um, I wouldn't want to challenge him with an arm, right? So I'm sure he'd win. But, um, you know, I think it's, it's just focusing on our abilities. And so for both him and I, we focused on using our upper body to propel the equipment. In his case it was a wheelchair. In my case it was a hand cycle, and to move forward on long journeys to raise awareness for our causes. And so that's exactly what I did. And and so in 2008 with the help of rotary the local Rotary clubs in the Yukon and rotary clubs across the country of Canada, launched cycle to walk polio awareness campaign to raise funds and awareness for polio eradication, education and rehabilitation started at Mile Zero the Trans Canada Highway On April the 12th, 2008 and it was a 7140 kilometer journey to the farthest, most easterly point in North America and Canada, Cape spear, Newfoundland, Labrador. And it was an amazing journey. It was awakening that Polio is not a done deal. It's not a disease of the past. It continues to paralyze and kill children today, and we need to continue to galvanize our support and come together as a global community for a polio free world.

joe solway: 12:12

I'm sure there are many moments that that that stay with you from that trip. Is there one that you can one little story you can tell that that really sticks out that is more crystal than some of the others, Yep,

Ramesh Ferris: 12:28

yeah, for sure. And one, one in particular stands out is I was in bail mount BC, and we had been hosted by an older couple, and I got to know the grandchildren, because we had some team meals at our host family's house and met the grandchildren. And at the very end, we were packing up the vehicle and I was leaving the kitchen, walk about to walk through the kitchen area, and the daughter of our host billet is looking at me, and she starts to cry, and she goes, I need to share something with you. I said, What's that? And she says, None of my children have been vaccinated, and ever since you've been here, you and your team talking talking about polio eradication and the importance of vaccinating children, I feel so stupid, and I'm questioning why I never got my children vaccinated. But after seeing your legs and the devastation that polio has done on your body, and I can see that I'm now going to go back to my children and encourage them to receive the polio vaccine. And for me, that is a very profound moment, because the cycle to walk was about education, about the importance of not only vaccinating people abroad, but making sure that parents are making that choice of vaccinating their children against polio at two months, four months and six months as part of the regular routine vaccines. And you know, I have continued to use my body and showing people the effects of polio in all of my advocacy and using it as a tool for engagement to say, Hey, this is the effects of polio. All of this, what you see, the devastation on my legs is completely preventable through simple vaccines at a young age, and that moment in veilment will always stick with me, and it charged me up to just remind me. It reminded me that I was on the right track, doing the right thing, using the cycle to walk together as a team. We were educating people about the importance of vaccines and coming together for. Polio free world.

joe solway: 15:01

Can you describe the end what it felt like to finally finish this?

Ramesh Ferris: 15:06

You know, it was a mix of emotions. You know, as I was cycling to I could see the ocean in front of me, and I was just, I was running out of land to cycle on, and I got to the point where I couldn't cycle anymore, and I just said to myself, I'm not done, because the purpose is is to educate our global community that we need to continue the fight against polio. And I was very thankful that the team you know, supported me for six months across the country. And even before six months to plan find the thing, you know, we had people in the home office and white horse UConn working on getting support on the road. And I cycled with a team of four people that were providing support the whole time across the country on a motor home in an advanced vehicle, setting up meeting at engagements and public speaking opportunities, speaking at Rotary clubs and schools and various other organizations, meeting with government officials and whatnot. So I was very, very, very excited that we had worked together and accomplished cycle to walk. But the dream was not about whether or not Ramish Ferris, a polio survivor, could hand cycle from one in the end of the country to the other. It was really about coming together as a global community, like I said, and reminding people that we're not done in the fight against polio and we need to continue the job.

Rotary Ad: 16:44

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joe solway: 17:13

how do you feel when you hear about the number? I don't know, whatever it would be, five, 722, or, you know, a new case being discovered in Gaza. I mean, how do you feel when we we're so close, and you can, do you imagine some of these kids and what they're going through and these families? I mean, what is it like for you to hear these, these figures that were so close, but we're still not there?

Ramesh Ferris: 17:38

Well, it's, it's challenging to hear those numbers. You know, we have, I believe we're about 63 cases of wild polio. You know, wild polio cases between Pakistan and Afghanistan and, yeah, it's really, really devastating to hear these. Numbers creep up. But you know, what's exciting for me is to know that we had the tools to finish the job in eradicating the second disease in human history, smallpox, being the first disease that humans have successfully eradicated in 1979 and so we know we can, we can eradicate this disease of polio. We just need continued political will and cooperation and countries to continue to financially support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative administered by the World Health Organization. We need Rotarians to, you know, stay strong and recognize that the end is near Brandon Polio. But we really can't do it unless we have rotary districts continuing to contribute 20% of their designated district funds to a polio plus that we're having Rotary Clubs in every district contribute 1500 US dollars annually to the fight against polio. You know, contributing 1500 US to polio plus and that we have rotary districts creating polio plus societies and encouraging each rotary member within their districts to contribute 100 US dollars annually, until the World Health Organization certifies the world as polio free. And so really, we cannot achieve a polio free world unless you know, Rotarians continue to not only just say that they support the end of polio, but they're financially backing it, both as a member as a club and as a district. And so, you know, we have the partnerships in place with the bill. On the Bill Gates Foundation. And, you know, we have, we have other philanthropists supporting our cause of polio eradication. And rotary worked hard with getting government support, and it was such amazing experience to be with past president, Jennifer Jones and our Minister of our minister, Federal Minister, announcing 151 million new dollars. I was there? That was quite a moment from, from the Government of Canada, yeah.

joe solway: 20:46

So you can work, yeah. That was quite a moment.

Ramesh Ferris: 20:49

You can recall that, yeah,

joe solway: 20:50

I was there at that the action zone Summit, and you were up on stage with the minister, and you were, you must be, well, you were looking down. We were all looking up at you, and people were wearing, you know, their polio shirts. Can you describe that moment for you? I mean, that must have been thrilling

Ramesh Ferris: 21:09

well as a Rotarian and as a polio survivor, you know, spending being part of this team of rotary working so hard over so many years, continuing to advocate our federal government that we need to have federal funds for this amazing program, and then to have the minister accept the call to action with a contribution of $151 million like That's incredible. And that's the power of working together as Rotarians, as one one team. And, you know, I said, like, it's one team, one goal, a polio free world, and that's what we're doing, what we're doing and why we need to continue to do it, our advocacy, our fundraising and doing whatever we can to ensure that polio eradication efforts remain in the spotlight and on the agendas everywhere, so that we can continue to provide and have vaccine equity throughout the world and ensure that the precious gift of that polio vaccine is being delivered to our world's most vulnerable global citizens. You

joe solway: 22:33

were there, you delivered some of that vaccine. You had the, you know, the honor of doing that, and I don't know, I describe it as an honor, but I don't know that's just from my point of view. What was that like? Can you describe what that was like for you as somebody who lives with polio to be giving the vaccine to these children?

Ramesh Ferris: 22:52

Yeah, and I You're right, it is an honor. And it's, it's it's incredible. It's a range of emotions. I'll give you a time when I went to Kabul, Afghanistan. It was August of 2011 and as with fellow Rotarian, Gary goth, go forth. Dr, Gary go forth out of the US. And every year, dr, go forth, travel to Kabul to educate locals to practice family medicine. So he, you know, taught at the med school, and part of that too, was to participate in some health camps, and we were able to provide that gift of the polio vaccine to children as part of this health camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, and it was my turn to provide the drops of the vaccine into this little, little child. And so I provided one drop and another. And then the mother had tears in her eyes, and she looks at me, and through translation, I just said, Why are you crying? And she says to me, it means so much that the world has not forgotten about Afghans children, thank you for coming and giving this gift of the drops of the polio vaccine so my child will be able to live a life polio free. And, you know, I almost cried when I heard that, because it was just like it means so much, not only to the children that we're providing drops of polio vaccine to. It means so much to the parents and to the community that, you know, people aren't forgotten about, no matter where you live, and this is this polio eradication program is a great example of we are ensuring that the world's most vulnerable children are receiving equitable access to the vaccine, and so to be part of that team to. Ever is amazing. What's

joe solway: 25:01

it going to take to get that polio free world? I mean, we're ever since I joined a few years ago, I guess six years ago now, we've been hearing we're almost there. We're almost there. What's it going to take to actually get there and stay there? I mean, getting there and then staying there, that's a, you know, that's a big deal. What's that going to take?

Ramesh Ferris: 25:20

Well, at the end of the day, we need funds, and we need continued financial support, and that's how we're going to get there. We need to continue in our advocacy. We need to continue building relations with government leaders around the world. We need to continue working in partnership with the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and we need to be proudly wearing our and polio now shirts and ensuring that the education and awareness is out there in our communities so people are not forgetting about polio because it truly is a disease of the current that continues to paralyze children today, and we need to be encouraging parents to to get their kids vaccinated in Canada, in the US and throughout other countries around the world, so that Polio is not spreading where it hasn't been seen In years, right? And so, you know, fortunately, like we're, we're only at two countries where the polio virus is endemic, but it's only, you know, one case is one case too many, and it's only a plane ride away. So if we have, if we have countries that are decreasing in their vaccine rates, but still doing global travel, that's a huge concern. We need to make sure that we're educating people both the ramifications of that and the importance of vaccine

Peter Tonge: 26:54

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joe solway: 27:27

um, you, you have basically dedicated your life to this. You know you, you work, obviously, but you, you've dedicated your charter life to this. What? What keeps driving you? You know you. I mean, you, you have, you know a decent life. You you know you have, you're able to move, you're able to, you know, to provide for yourself and what, what keeps you going and drives you to be such a warrior, and I use that term in this fight, and a leader, not just a warrior, but a leader in this fight.

Ramesh Ferris: 27:59

Well, I, you know, there's lots of things that drive me, the fact that I live with this, the effects of polio every day of my life, and I I can never forget about it, because I'm living with the effects of it, and I know how horrible it is and how it affects my day to day Life I am. What drives me is recalling, you know, the times I've spent in Afghanistan and in Pakistan and in India and each each place I've been to in those countries, I've seen human beings crawling in dirt because they're living with the effects of polio and not having the rehabilitative supports, the braces, the crutches, corrective surgeries. And the other thing, which drives me a couple things, is seeing meaning older polio survivors that are a couple generations ahead of me that say Ramish polio isn't just a one shot deal. You don't get it when you're young, and then you just move on. It's with you forever. And there's this thing called post polio syndrome, where you might have heard about where at midlife, you have older polio survivors complaining about challenges with walking, where they thought their legs were fine, but then all of a sudden, their legs aren't fine at midlife, and issues with swallowing food and sleeping, and issues with cold intolerance. And you know, active, you know, people that were once walking are put into a wheelchair because they're not able to stand. And this is part of what's called post polio syndrome, and they are just so appreciative of all the support that people are doing to raise awareness about polio, because it really is one of these forgotten about diseases in our development. Built world in in in this, in our country of Canada and and other in other countries and so. And then I guess the last thing is, I'm driven on by the excitement of rotary and all the partners of the Global Polio education initiative and all the work that they're doing to raise awareness and funds for polio free world and ensuring that the vaccine gets in the mouths of children around the world and so. And these are people that don't even, don't even, not even living with the effects of polio, and they're so excited to to give of themselves and work being part of this global community for polio free world. So, you know, they're not giving up. And the polio survivors that I've met on the ground, they're not giving up. They're still living life and doing what they can. And I'm not going to give up, you know, and there's no way, like our efforts to end polio are non negotiable. We need to continue in this fight, in my my view. So I'm I'm not going to

joe solway: 31:02

give up. So you ever think about your birth mother through August? Yeah, I

Ramesh Ferris: 31:07

think about her all the time, and how fortunate I am, and it's just, it's incredible about just the life that I could have been living if I wasn't adopted, but the importance of giving back to my global community so that no child will have to live with the effects of polio and to be part of that is very special, and it's something that I don't take for granted, and I'm always appreciative of and I'm excited to talk to whoever will listen and work with whoever wants to be part of the

joe solway: 31:45

team. So that's wonderful. Thank you so much for giving of your time today. Thank you so much for everything that you've done and you continue to do, and we will see you very soon, I'm sure, somewhere very, soon. Thank you very much. Thank

Ramesh Ferris: 32:02

you very much. Yeah, thank you very much. Okay,

Unknown: 32:04

bye. Now you music.

Mandy Kwasnica: 32:31

Thank you so much for joining us on another great episode of talking Rotary. We would love to hear from you. Please send us your comments and story ideas, and you can share with us easily by sending us an email at feedback at talking rotary.org let's keep talking Rotary. You.