Art for advocacy’s sake
Student artists in Egypt spread the word about cervical cancer
The curved walls of an art gallery on the Cairo Opera House grounds are lined with posters picturing lab beakers, syringes, and uteruses, alongside bold, empowering images of women caring for each other. Who knew artwork depicting the fight against cervical cancer could look so beautiful?
The artists, fourth-year students at Ain Shams University in Cairo, stand nearby to explain the thinking behind these 36 medical illustrations, which they’ve created through the Rotary member-led program United to End Cervical Cancer in Egypt, recipient of a $2 million Programs of Scale grant from The Rotary Foundation in 2023.
The exhibition got its start after a presentation by Amal El-Sisi, a member of the Rotary Club of El Tahrir and a pediatric doctor, about the cervical cancer initiative that emphasizes vaccines for girls and screening for women. The four-year campaign to reduce the number of cervical cancer cases in Greater Cairo will inform the Egyptian government’s national strategy. Doaa El-Saati, an art professor at Ain Shams University, thought that creating awareness through visual art would be a fitting activity for her students.
Image credit left to right: Nada Mohamed, Maha Ahmed.
Image credit left to right: Nada Mohamed, Dalia Azzat.
The young artists began by learning about cervical cancer and its causes and symptoms, as well as the key to prevention: the HPV vaccine. Until then, none of them had heard about the disease. “Rotary introduced this disease to the students; nobody had talked about it before,” El-Saati says. “The students were very excited and wanted to be vaccinated.”
After spending a few weeks brainstorming, they came up with concepts and began working with El-Saati to produce the works. “I was happy with the results, the excitement, and the energy of the students,” El-Saati says.
Image credit left to right: Malak Khaled Fawazy, Hagar Mohamed.
Image credit left to right: Hania Ahmed, Hanna Mostafa.
In March 2024, local Rotary members, public figures, and artists attended the exhibition. Rotaractors pitched in by transporting the art and placing it, ushering guests, and awarding prizes to the seven artists selected by judges. “This Programs of Scale initiative is a very big project. It means a lot for Rotary in Egypt,” says Yassin Shenawy, a medical student and then the president of the Rotaract Club of Gezira Sporting. “Every member of Rotary or Rotaract tries to participate and have a part in delivering this message.”
Organizers hope to make the exhibition an annual event over the four years of the initiative.
This story originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of Rotary magazine.