One thousand words

Figure. Photo by: Shawna Silver

Ignorance is disease. First-year medical students at McMaster University enjoy the opportunity to arrange an 8-week clinical elective in the location and specialty of their choice. This September, students donated photos taken during their electives to a silent auction at the International Women's and Children's Health Symposium at McMaster, raising over $1200 for “Save the Mothers,” a Canadian NGO working to reduce maternal mortality in Uganda. CMAJ has selected 3 for publication. Shawna Silver took this photo during National Health Week in Wenchi, Ghana. We liked the feeling of empowerment in this beautifully composed photograph; this posed group seems, poignantly, to be ready to take charge of their own future. The photographer writes: “For one week a year, the University of Ghana medical school closes and the students spread across the country to provide health education. This year's topic was tuberculosis. I ... was sent to Wenchi and the Brong Ahafo region, about 350 km from Accra, the capital. Children were fascinated with my digital camera and even more so in seeing themselves on the screen. The writing is on the wall. They wanted to learn all they could. And, we were there to help.”