5000-110

Notes

Photographer's Notes: "It was hotter than hell in the Bangladeshi village I was visiting. On the way into this room, I passed two cows, a whole runaway class of schoolchildren including three kids ostensibly crippled by polio, an outdoor shower, and two above-ground domed graves. It was not uncommon in this village to be born and die in the same small space. I was accompanying a Shasthya (female health worker) who was paid less than one dollar per day to provide community-based health including hygiene instructions for newborn health. It was dusty. People were sputtering, spitting, coughing, and sneezing. The cows were belching. The children were laughing. Amidst all of this was a newborn baby: fresh, quiet, and soft. Everyone washed their hands. The baby was measured. Vaccination for measles, pertussis, and Hemophilus influenzae B of children has reached even this most remote corner of the world. Through the deliberate, organized, and widespread engagement of women in the health care work force, it is a new day in Bangladesh. "