For anyone who has participated in a Caborca PolioPlus trip, it is a great opportunity to take part in one of the primer projects that Rotary International has undertaken, as well as a chance to get to know Rotarians on both sides of the border, and have lots of fun! 
 
It’s time to start planning for this popular trip, scheduled for Friday, February 23 through Sunday, February 25, 2018. As a Rotarian in District 5495, you are invited to apply to attend. Below is an overview and information about how you can be selected to attend.
As in past years, we will share one coach bus with D-5320 from Southern California. Most of our Arizona contingent will include Rotarians from D-5495, but we also get to rub elbows with several Rotary friends from the Sierra Vista area of D-5500 and one or two Rotarians each from D-6170 (LA), D-6880 (Alabama) and D-6170 in Arkansas. We have 27 seats allotted for D-5495 and our other Rotary friends.
 
Given the recent district merger, we anticipate that interest/demand for participation in this trip will exceed the number of seats available. Thus, we are outlining selection procedures to make sure that everyone who wants to participate has a fair chance and knows what we expect of each Rotarian who goes on the trip:
  • All attendees must be a current Rotary member in good standing
  • ​​​​​​If you are someone who has attended this trip two or more times within the past four years, please do not apply (we want to give new folks an opportunity)
  • No more than two members from the same club will be selected
  • All individuals attending must have a valid US passport
  • A lottery system will be used to choose attendees from emailed applications received by the specified deadline
  • Your trip application (deadline is October 31, 2017), should be emailed to Noel DeSousa, the Caborca PolioPlus Trip Coordinator, at noel.j.desousa@gmail.com. Please include: 1. Your name; 2. The name of your Rotary club; 3. District number; 4. Cell phone number; 5. Email address; and 6. Spanish proficiency (fluent, moderate, none).
  • If you are selected, it is expected that you will solicit donations of $100 or more each from your club and/or from one or more other clubs in your Area to be contributed to the Caborca Children's Medical Fund. Donations from individual Rotarians are also graciously accepted.
  • If you are notified that you have “won the lottery,” you will need to forward a check to Noel DeSousa for $175 by November 27 (payable to Rotary District 5495) to cover your trip expenses. 
  • A waiting list will be compiled in case of cancellations, also by lottery.
Caborca PolioPlusTrip Overview
The following description provides an overview of the trip schedule and the three (3) main purposes of the trip: 1. Provide polio and other inoculations to children and family members in the Caborca area; 2. Contribute to the Caborca Children’s Medical Fund; and 3. Solicit your club’s partnership in a Caborca Rotary Club Global Grant.
 
Friday, February 23: As in past years, we'll meet at the Buckeye Lions Club building (where fenced-in parking is provided) on Friday about noon and have lunch with the California Rotarians as soon as they arrive with our shared coach bus. After lunch, we'll all board the bus and head down to Caborca, picking up a few more Rotarians in Ajo from D-5500 along the way. The total trip from Buckeye to Caborca takes about four-six hours, depending on how long it takes to get across the border at Lukeville.
 
Upon our arrival in Caborca, we will all register for our two-night stay at the El Camino Motel (about $40-U.S. per night/per room – double occupancy) and then immediately be transported to the Caborca Rotary clubhouse to meet and greet their members and be provided a delicious dinner. 
 
Saturday, February 24: After a good night’s rest and included buffet breakfast at the motel early Saturday morning, we travel to the Caborca medical clinic for some welcoming formalities, divide into assigned groups and then are transported to the villages (ejidos) outside of Caborca where the actual polio immunizations will take place.
 
Walking up and down the dirt streets of the ejidos, locating and going into homes of the children needing their immunizations and interacting with the people – the families – is one of the most interesting aspects of this trip. It is both rewarding and eye-opening. The ejidos of greater Caborca that are serviced by the Caborca Health Department are spread out along the highway between the city and the Sea of Cortez – a distance of about 60 miles. You will spend several hours with your small group at your assigned ejido. Each group consists of a Caborca Rotary translator, a public health nurse and three or four other Rotarians.
 
Being picked up by our bus, all groups are transported to the fishing village of El Desemboque on the shores of the Sea of Cortez, where a mid-afternoon lunch and other refreshment is provided on the outside veranda at a local cantina overlooking the water.
Late Saturday afternoon, after the hour-long bus ride back to Caborca, we have the option of meeting with members of the Caborca Rotary Club and are provided an introduction and invitation for your Rotary club to partner in their latest Global Grant initiative. 
Saturday evening we'll have another scrumptious dinner at the Caborca Rotary clubhouse. At the conclusion of dinner, the Caborca Rotarians will introduce us to some of the children who have benefitted from our past contributions to the Caborca Children’s Medical Fund – another chance to feel proud to be a Rotarian, after which our donations will be gratefully accepted.
 
Sunday, February 25: We'll leave for Buckeye after breakfast on Sunday morning and after goodbyes from a few members of the “Club Rotario de Caborca” who have come to see us off. We usually arrive in Buckeye between 1 and 2 p.m. where, before heading home, having lunch again with the California Rotarians is an option.
 
Feel free to contact Noel DeSousa, D5495 Assistant Governor Area 18, with any questions (email preferred) noel.j.desousa@gmail.com or you can call his cell phone at 603.496.5809