As funeral director of Dorsey Funeral Home in Ossining, George Camp thought he had seen it all. That is, until he went to Bangladesh and India to help vaccinate children against polio.

Camp went to Asia as part of Rotary International. He’s been a Rotarian since 1980 and worked for the last 20 years doing his best to eradicate polio, serving as chairman of the Polio Plus Committee. But this is the first time he was able to do any of the work up close.

In November, before a Rotary district government meeting, Camp had to go to the airport to pick up two of the speakers. Both had been on Rotary trips to Asia to help vaccinate against polio. Camp struck up a conversation with them and found out that the next trip to eradicate polio was Dec. 3. Three days later, Camp was committed to going to the trip.

“It was all very sudden,” said Camp. “I’m usually not that kind of person. My mother wasn’t too pleased. My kids were wondering why I was going over there.”

In Bangladesh, Camp took part in National Immunization Day. The city had had a recurrence of polio and the government called for every child under five to be inoculated. Camp went door to door in Bangladesh, going to over 300 residences, inoculating people with a pill. One baby he inoculated was only 10-days old.

“We went from high rises to slums,” said Camp. “I saw people living in mud huts.” At a railroad station in Bangladesh, Camp and his crew inoculated people on a train because the station master wouldn’t let the train leave until all the kids were immunized. In Bangladesh, people ride on top of the trains because it’s free, so Camp even went up there to inoculate some young children.

“That tells you how poor it is,” said Camp. “The per capita income is $150 per year.” Despite the poor conditions, Camp said the Bangladeshis that he met were friendly and hospitable. Some parts of Bangladesh are so poor and disease ridden, that when a child reaches the age of five, it’s often cause for celebration.

“They would always invite us in and offer us water and food,” said Camp. “It was amazing. There were such beautiful children. I never felt people were jealous of me. This was the first time they’d ever seen a white person.” He even presented some of the kids with their very first toys.

For fear of getting sick, Camp had to decline the offers and tight precautions were taken on all food. Even with all the safety measures, Camp and every member of his group ended up getting sick.

When they weren’t inoculating children, they visited towns that had water tainted by arsenic, and visited hospitals where doctors performed life-saving surgery for much less than they would in America.

Camp and fellow Rotarians hope to one day see a polio-free world. “It’s important for me to be a part of it,” said Camp. “We’ve set a goal of raising $100 million to [eradicate] polio.”

New cases of polio have declined in recent years, with about 750 cases reported in 2007. The disease is still prevalent in Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. As part of the campaign, Camp also traveled to India where polio vaccination is somewhat problematic. The country must provide monthly vaccinations because chronic diarrhea causes the vaccines to flush out quickly.

Camp returned to the United States in the middle of December, at the height of the Christmas season. He said it was very hard to return and it made him want to raise more money. “It’s so easy to help, it’s crazy,” he said. “I appreciate what we have. It put things in perspective.” Camp hopes to head back to Bangladesh to vaccinate more kids and do more work for Rotary International. He also hopes to go to Nigeria to help children there as well.

“If you ever get a chance to take this trip, definitely do it,” said Camp. “It’s an amazing, great experience.”

For more information on Rotary International visit www.rotary.org. For information on Polio Plus and what you can do to help, visit www.rotary.org/foundation/polioplus/