I was invited to attend a Rotary International- sponsored polio vaccination event AND asked to administer the vaccine to one small baby. Pretty cool, eh? The RI stives to erradicate polio by offering vaccination stations like this all over India. Go Rotary!
Sadly, the uniformed in neighboring states, still struggle to accept the treatments for fear of sterilization. You may have heard that a boy who had been treated for encephalitis was vaccinated in Tamil Nadu--and later died. The local paper there said that he died from the vaccine and not his original ailment. This has created a bit of a stir and further challenge to the full erradication of Polio in India. Pakistan and Afghanistan two other locations where polio is found. I believe these three places (India-primarily in the north, and Pakistan and Afghanistan) are the last of the polio ridden areas. Muslim clerics seem to preach actively against the vaccination--saying the US is trying to sterilize their children.
Then, the next day, we visited this cathedral outside of Alleppey (closer to Kotayam in a town whose name I did not catch). The original church was for St. Sebastian. We saw a museum of old church artifacts, a never-emptying spring that Mary was proported to have visited, and a very well-kept and manicured cemetery. The church was quite impressive, but had VERY clear evidence of the merging of the Hindu and Catholic faiths. In one picture, Christ was painted as a guru. They also sell tokens for wishes and requests for healings JUST like we saw in a Hindu temple. Oil also plays an important role here and for the temples, too. It is interesting to see first hand the blending of two cultures. 
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