First Look
Photography by Sarah Gelbard 18MPH
Sisters, Cambodia
Support for the disabled | Sarah Gelbard 18MPH was one of the winners of the Global Health Institute Student Photography Contest. She writes of this photo: Women gather together to support a sister with a disability as she discusses practices in water, sanitation, and menstrual hygiene management in Kratie Province, Cambodia. It is estimated that 4.7 percent of Cambodia’s population lives with disability, most commonly involving impairments of mobility or vision. Caused by illness and disease, congenital conditions, accidental injury, and in rarer cases by land-mine explosion, disability can render a person uniquely susceptible to economic hardship, environmental obstacles, and social discrimination. A high percentage of Cambodian women with disabilities reside in rural areas. They may encounter additional barriers related to water, sanitation, and hygiene access. In considering global health research and program implementation, their narratives are essential to inclusive progress. The dictum “nothing about us without us” is always relevant.
