EIL Intercultural Learning - health

My internship experience in India - Part 1: "the internship work"

Anton — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:01:37 +0000

Ber is a Public Helath and Health Promotion Student in UCC, she tells us about her 12 weeks internship work in India:

As the weeks flew by in Jaipur, we got much more used to the run of things- especially in the workplace. From our experience so far - the most exciting work activities included the field visits and the health camps. After these we got to visit the organisations ‘Reproductive Health & Family Planning Centre’ (RHFPC). This small hospital covered a range of services from Emergency Contraceptives, HIV/AIDS and Counselling, to Maternal Health Care and Child Health Care.

My first impressions of the hospital were that it was a very clean and well-managed environment. This certainly contrasted with numerous reports from other bigger hospitals around Jaipur. A friend of ours got sick one weekend after being away travelling for a few days. She was pretty quick in moving from the original hospital they put her. Not only was it completely dirty, but also she reported sitting in her hospital bed one day-- when a monkey tried to get in her window!

Back in the FPAI office, Sarah and I spent a lot of time researching and brainstorming together. After being out in the field we felt we had better knowledge of the organisations projects, and that we could now come up with our own ideas. We worked on a proposal that targeted adolescents. We proposed a youth club was a good way in gathering young people together, as well as incorporating the learning of necessary life skills and other fun and games to make the learning process easier.

I learned a lot on the health needs of adolescents, and particular problems that are greeted with the Indian youth of today. Other work we carried out included the preparation of several project brochures, and the preparation of concept notes. Our concept notes included - ‘Attitudes and Behaviours of youth in Rajasthan towards Sexual & Reproductive Health’, and ‘Awareness of HIV/AIDs among youth in Rajasthan’.

Some of the issues we came across were new to our course of study, especially as we were dealing with the Indian context. There were a lot of issues we learned about during our internship that we hadn’t encounter previously in our study at University.

Examples include issues surrounding Illegal Abortions, Reproductive Child Health Rights, and Gender Equality. We gained a lot of knowledge especially on male attitudes towards women’s empowerment.

On the contrary, there were a lot of Public Health and Health Promotion areas that we had knowledge of, and consequently were able to apply these theories in practice. We got to experience working first hand with relevant topics such as HIV/Aids, STI/RTI’s, Nutrition of pregnant women, and Population Health issues.

From our whole India experience, I hoped to be able to use and apply my learning to aid future development in these areas upon returning to Ireland. Recently I was

a given the opportunity by EIL to attend a meeting organised by the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA). This was regarding their youth-led project to raise awareness of the Millennium Development Goals, especially MDG 5 (To Improve Maternal Health). There was a particular focus on Target 5B – ‘Achieve, by 2015, universal access to Reproductive Health’.

This September, the United Nations summit is being called to review and accelerate progress towards the MDGs. As the Irish Government are participating in this,

ASK'S Keep Your Promise campaign wants to raise awareness among young Irish people about the importance of achieving this Millennium Development Goal, and make sure that Ireland recognises and supports the health needs of young people at this Summit.

As this issue related directly to my work experience with the FPA India, I was eager to attend the meeting in Dublin with the opportunity to bring as much of my Indian experience with me as possible. This was a great opportunity to discuss this important health issue with a lot of people from different youth organisations, all with various views and experiences in this field. We discussed issues involved in achieving universal access to reproductive health, why young people should be included in the Millennium Development Goals and why MDG 5 is the most off track of all the MDG’s etc.

I've learned a lot more of the Irish situation in comparison the Indian situation as a result of this Internship. Doing my internship in India certainly has its differences from doing one in Ireland. The Indian FPA have bigger issues to face when the Health they are trying to envision is coupled with broader components of development such as alleviation of poverty, stabilization of population and gender equality. This brought a much greater challenge to our work, but I found the difference of working in a Developing country to be more engaging and intriguing to work on.

I feel we could not have learned as much about a Developing country if we had just being working in Ireland and reading about the situation. Definitely as we were living and working in the Indian environment, we gained a greater experience on the Health issues and surrounding problems.

Overall I was very satisfied with my work placement experience. However challenging it may have been at times, in my opinion it was all worthwhile and rewarding in the end.

Ber Keating

Ber and Sarah, UCC students on their Public Health Internship in India

Anton — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:37:55 +0000

Ber and Sarah and the staff of the FPAI project - Jauipur - India

Volunteer in Thailand

Piers Meynell — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:12:49 +0000

Volunteer Abroad

Individual volunteering

Thailand

Description:

Whether it is the excitement and energy of Bangkok or the beautiful beaches and islands dotted around the coast, Thailand has long held a draw for travellers to South East Asia. The only country in the region never to have been ruled by a European power, Thailand is renowned for its Buddhist traditions, friendly people and delicious national cuisine. Economic growth over the last two decades has been impressive. However, huge disparities remain, and the benefits of economic progress have not been shared by all in Thailand. This is particularly true for ethnic minorities, migrants and refugees. Volunteers can contribute their time and energy to a wide range of projects in the region of Chang Mai, while gaining a real understanding of the country, its culture and the challenges faced by local people. Placements are available in the following areas: teaching and education, health and HIV/AIDS prevention, women's empowerment, refugee education and assistance.

Thailand

Volunteer

asia

teaching

education

health

women's empowerment

migrants

refugees

Chang Mai

HIV/AIDS prevention

Health project in Peru

Anton — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:08:27 +0000

Volunteer on a health project in Peru

Volunteer Ireland

Piers Meynell — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:56:51 +0000

A german volunteer explains why she chose to spend her time off volunteering in Ireland and with a staff member explains her work at a care centre.

Visit Ireland

Volunteer in Ireland

Description:

Annika Martin is a volunteer from Germany spending 8 weeks working in Cork, Ireland at a care home that supports people with disabilities. In this video she tells us why she chose to spend her time off volunteering and explains how she's helping the centre. Fiona O'Riordan, the volunteer and activities organiser at the care home, then offers some more in more depth background information about the centre and the range of volunteering opportunities with them.

health

disability

Cheshire home

care

residential

german

St Laurence

Volunteer South Africa

Piers Meynell — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:31:44 +0000

A short orientation video introducing the volunteering projects you could become involved with in South Africa.

Volunteer Abroad

Individual volunteering

South Africa

Description:

A short orientation video introducing the volunteering projects you could become involved with in South Africa. Volunteer Abroad and SASTS offer a range of educational, environmental, health and social projects where you can make a real difference both to the lives of others and your own.

social

health

education

South Africa

SASTS

ecological

Volunteer in Guatemala

Piers Meynell — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:38:38 +0000

A 5 minute video covering what it's like to volunteer in Guatemala as told from the perspective of one of EIL's Irish volunteers Helen McCarthy.

Volunteer Abroad

Individual volunteering

Guatemala

Description:

A 5 minute video covering what it's like to volunteer in Guatemala as told from the perspective of one of our volunteers Helen McCarthy.

Volunteer

teaching

health

welfare

Guatemala

South America

environmental

building

community development

voluntary

Spanish

Latin America