Ewan McGregor travels to India and Nepal to follow a ‘cold chain’ of vaccines that crosses treacherous and remote areas to reach and immunise children.
It may sound like a typical Comic Relief video that sends celebrities to impoverished areas to weep for families, but it ends up being an eye-opening documentary that shows both Unicef’s incredible work and a place so alien.
The journey starts in Patna, India, the 21st fastest growing city in the world, where Ewan visits and inoculates several children in a small nomadic camp. After a twelve hour boat and bike journey they reach Terasi, a village that is often caught in floods which can render homes unusable and disrupt the ‘cold chain.’
It is here we see one of the documentary’s most unsettling scenes. Ewan is watching as nurses administer the vaccine when he notices a baby girl having respiratory problems, every breath of air being a struggle. Ewan is forced to remove himself to allow his emotions to overcome him before he calms down and returns.
We leave the village unaware of whether the child survives.
This documentary succeeds because it shows reality. Yes, we can see the abysmal living standards but we can also see the people that live there. Children play and shout across mountains. Family life continues and people burst with happiness, despite their circumstances, something other documentaries often bypass to show a darker depiction of the third world.
They pass the border into Nepal with the ultimate goal of reaching Luma. To get there they must land on Kathmandu runway, one of the world’s most dangerous; perched precariously 3,000 metres up. After this, there is a two day walk across rugged terrain before they reach Luma, a town literally carved into the mountainside where a hundred families live in stone and mud houses, to deliver the final vial of medicine.
The documentary is an incredible insight into a world lesser seen, and one not yet tainted by internet or technology. Ewan makes this film not for an egocentric trip, pretending to be charitable, but because he believes in the cause, being an Unicef ambassador for over eight years.
Two years ago, India had the highest rates of polio in the world. Thanks to the cold chains there has not been a single case reported in over a year. The country is now close to eradicating the disease entirely. As Ewan puts it, this is an ‘incredible achievement.’