Ber and Sarah, Public Helath and Health Promotion Students in UCC tell us about their internship programme in India
5 weeks in and we can't believe over one third of our time here has gone already. It is nothing like we had expected. Any previous views we had of India have completely changed for the better. When we remember back to the EIL pre-departure workshop and the chat you gave on culture shock, we really did not realise how much of a cultural difference we were letting ourselves in for. Everything is so unbelievably different and challenging, but we wouldn't want it any other way. It took a little while to take it all in, but after just one week here the place definitely felt like home.
The volunteer house has such a fun and friendly atmosphere, and we're being well taken care of by all the local staff. We've even started yoga at 6am which is a lot of fun. We've done a little traveling at the weekends too which has been so great, but there are so many more places we want to see before we leave. There is always someone who wants to travel with you, so it great having the crowd in the house.
I must admit, the staring from some people took some getting used to. Every second person on the street shouts out 'hello, hello!'. Especially children. And then they get so happy and excited when you say hello back! It's the littliest of things throughout the day that make us so happy. We've had a lot of fun on the buses also. When we first saw the amount of people that packs into them I must say we were a little worried. The concept of running to jump onto the bus had us in stitches laughing the first day. But by now we know all the conductors and have regular chats with the locals on it (who don't have the best of English i'll add). The people over here are some of the nicest and friendliest people we've met in our entire life. We really don't want to leave!
Even though the internship is slightly different from the volunteer programme, we're not missing out on too much. We are working with the Family Planning Association of India (FPAI): “FPA India strengthens a voluntary and non-government commitment to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights including family planning. It supports the rights of individuals to reproductive choices, including legal and safe abortion; works towards reducing the spread and the impact of STIs /HIV/AIDS and increasing access to gender sensitive SRH information, education and services to all especially the young and marginalized and eliminating violence, discrimination, and abuse.”
Our work hours are slightly longer (9.30am-6pm), but everyone at the office is really looking after us. We're based mostly in the office at the moment, reading some literature, getting to know all about the projects and work that the FPAI carries out and trying to come up with our own views and suggestions about further projects to come. We've had a great introduction to the way things are run here, in the office environment and also the different pace at which things are done.
We've had some days out with the field workers in the slum areas also. Mostly observing their work and asking questions where possible. It is mostly women's meetings that we've attended, but with every meeting came a big welcome from all the children, families and neighbours! At the meetings they discuss health issues such as Safe Motherhood, Adolescent and Reproductive health, Family Planning, RTI/STI's, HIV/AIDS and Access to services. We attended a Health Camp one day also. This took place in a very marginalised area where access to services was extremely difficult. Here the FPAI provided a doctor to see the women and children, but also free medications were distributed out where needed. After the day at the camp, it really made us greatful to work with an organisation that carries out such valuable services.
Despite the initial worries about the summer heat in India, we've become well climatised by now. It turned out to be one of the hottest April's that Jaipur has seen with temperatures reaching about 44'C. The nights sometimes can be quite humid, but you just have to get over it with thoughts of a nice cold shower in the morning! The cuisine also is traditional Indian, but we haven’t had any major issues... except for the odd brief encounter with curry/rice for breakfast!
We've learned pretty quickly that to get the most out of India - you must just do as the Indians do. We've had a lot of fun so far doing this. It really helps when you're working with Indian people as it's like everyone is family, and everyone looks out for each other. (This really helps with bargaining with tuc-tuc drivers also!) With all the friends we've made here alone, we'd definitely recommend this experience so far.