These last two weeks have been highly eye-opening in more ways than I could have imagined. I have officially completed 3-weeks of my public health internship for an NGO, Aastha Parivaar, which is an organisation for the sex worker population. Understanding the ins and outs of public health in one of the world’s most dynamic and decorated cities has been a whirlwind of growth and exposure to the realities of healthcare and social work.
When stepping foot into my internship on the first day, I had no idea how thrilling the first 3 weeks of experience and growth I would endure. My work involved researching and reviewing mental health case studies and collating the key facts into a social media post. This is to raise awareness around alleviating the stigma and discrimination sex workers face. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn are crucial in spreading knowledge and information.
Part of Aastha Parivaar’s mission is to provide sexual reproductive education to demographics who often miss out, and a significant portion of that is children. In my third week, I had the privilege of attending an event called the Youth Conclave Hausla Project, an opportunity for community leaders, other NGOs and, most importantly, children from the local school to come together, share performance and culture also use the opportunity to educate our next generation of leaders. I had the chance to hang out with the kids, get to know their backgrounds, and understand what public health resources they have access to and don’t.
Learning and understanding the stupefied reality of the public health sector in India was eye-opening, to say the least. Learning the access back home in Aotearoa is considered a luxury or impossible to access here. I had the privilege of being able to visit the community of local sex workers and see where they reside. Considering they were based in the slums, however, the conditions were nothing as I had seen before. Damp, dark and isolated. Sex work is illegal in India, so all of the rooms were bolted up to prevent police from coming in and escorting them out.
So far on the trip, I have been in situations inside and outside my comfort zone. It has been inspiring, but it has also confronted me with the ins and outs of public health.