Well, I guess for my first real post, one beyond introductions and greetings, I will stick with something familiar to myself and the rest of my English class. This photo by Sebastião Salgado depicts a Polio Clinic. In the foreground there is a woman strapping braces to a pair of small inept legs. In the background there is a second woman; this one holding a pair of new sneakers. My attention is drawn to this second woman. She appears to be concerned for the young boy as she safely guards what would seemingly be his shoes. She probably is very close to the boy and wants only the best for him. To me this symbolizes the efforts to bring western medicine and techniques to refugees throughout the less developed regions of the world. It is clinics like these that will bring a brighter tomorrow. Salgado, while working with Groups like WHO, UNICEF, and the CDC has helped bring mass polio vaccinations to countries like Pakistan, India, and Sudan to name a few. Since 1988 the efforts of Salgado have helped to reduce polio by 99 %. As of 2006 only four countries still have the Polio endemic. Because of the complete commitment of Salgado, a once great endemic has been reduced almost to nothing. In a few short years maybe Polio can be completely eradicated, but in the meantime we must do our part. Although we can’t all quit our jobs and head around the world to help firsthand, we can contribute to organizations that are leading the good fight, and spread the word.
“The End of Polio: Photographs of Sebastião Salgado Opens to Public.” CDC Online Newsroom. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 August 2007. Web. 20 January 2010.
Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture Foundation, Inc.: New York, 2000. 78.
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