https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53887947?at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_m
Hopefully the link works. Nigeria has been declared Polio free. There was much resistance to the vaccine in northern Nigeria with stories that it was a western conspiracy to sterilise ordinary muslims.
There is a can of worms here, but conspiracies like this do untold damage to 1000s of lives. When I worked there, children with polio were a frequent sight. Indeed one co-worker of mine used walking sticks such was her struggle with polio.
Whilst here I recall the parasoccer played by young men, mostly polio victims, legs strapped to scate boards using their hands to manouevre and to strike the ball. They wished to get it recognised as an olympic sport, holding national competitions. Really competitive game, fast pace, lots of elbows missued, tumbles and posturing.
The spirit shown by these disadvantaged young men was admirable and the article shows they played a key role in the campaign to vaccinate.
Bit of a ramble but all good news and happy memories watching and meeting parasoccer players and coaches thrown in too. :-) [Post edited 26 Aug 2020 6:22]
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