I write this as a reflection of my summer in the beautiful city of Bengaluru (in the state of Karnataka, India), working for an NGO called Youth for Seva (YFS). For more information about this internship, log onto http://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-international-summer-youth-internship-program. This experience had many flavors weaving in and out of each other, creating a rich and vibrant combination...
Although words are but futile, I try my best to convey the spectrum of knowledge and emotions I was blessed with these past few months. I reached Hyderabad on June 7th and met with four other interns – Aditya (a Canadian intern who was heading to Bengaluru with me after the orientation), Ashita, Katie and another Katie (three US interns who were going to continue their journey in Hyderabad). Strangers only for a moment, we all connected easily and eventually shared many ideas, laughs, and plates of food! The YFS staff was also friendly and approachable. I didn’t hesitate setting my safety in their capable hands.
For the next three days, under the guidance of the Hyderabad chapter of Youth for Seva, we travelled in and around the city. The purpose of this traveling was to visit a variety of NGOs (specialized in different fields) which were partnering volunteer efforts with Youth for Seva. YFS intended to expose the international interns not only to opportunities to build their individual internship projects but to Indian culture as well. Despite myself being of Indian origin, this exposure was vital to expanding my cultural sensitivity as well since each state in India is beautifully unique (in terms of language, attire, food, etiquette etc.)
All too soon, our orientation came to an end. It was time to head to the real location of our internship. We spent part of the day helping allocate supplies for a School Kit Drive YFS Hyderabad was conducting. The goal of this initiative was to provide free school supplies (sealed inside a new backpack) to approximately 10,000 children all over Hyderabad. After several hours of volunteering, we emerged fatigued but motivated by this ambitious project. We bid thanks + goodbyes to the wonderful team at YFS Hyderabad as well as the other three international interns and boarded a 15-hour bus ride directly to Bengaluru, in the state of Karnataka, India. I chose to do this internship with a team called “Doctors for Seva”, the health initiative of Youth for Seva in Bengaluru. The program Doctors for Seva is focused primarily on raising awareness and accessibility to public health services for marginalized slum populations and students of government schools. Such services include basic medical care, health screenings, health education portals and materials, psychiatric consulting, and access to support groups organized by Doctors for Seva volunteers. The direct relevance to public health is the preventative and treatment based healthcare being offered free of charge to underprivileged children. They benefit from a guaranteed annual medical checkup, any additional medications they need, and a foundation of knowledge about basic health facts and guidelines. DFS Blog:http://doctorsforseva.blogspot.com/ DFS Website:http://www.doctorsforseva.youthforseva.org/
For my first taste of Doctors for Seva (DFS) in action, I accompanied a team of DFS volunteers to a small village near the city of Tumkur (about a 3 hour drive away from Bengaluru). The schedule for the day included a corporate-sponsored school kit distribution carried out by corporate volunteers from Dell (they sponsored the cost of the supplies, assembled, and distributed the kits). In addition, the DFS initiative for the day was a female menstrual hygiene awareness workshop. The workshop wasn’t the one-sided, monotone lecture I endured when in high school. It was epic. Recently, several DFS volunteers had collaborated with graphic designers to create an animated video called “Mythri”. This creative and educational video – both in the native language Kannada and with English subtitles – offered very clean, straightforward, and youth-friendly insight into female menstruation and its myths and facts. The core project I was assigned to was entitled “Doctor at School” (DAS), a public health initiative which focused on providing free medical care to government school children, ranging from age 4-15. DAS accomplished the task of serving government schools all over Bengaluru (with up to 500+ children in each) by recruiting non-medical and medical volunteers to carry out pre-health and health screenings, respectively.
Primarily, I designed and reformatted template letters to send to hospitals and clinics around the city to inform them of our unique volunteering program and recruit medical doctors to conduct health screenings. For approximately a week, I also travelled with my mentor – Shashikala ji, a DFS coordinator – to various government schools and adjacent hospitals/clinics to connect the two entities to each other. Meetings, meetings, meetings! Fortunately, both sides were extremely cooperative and we eventually compiled an organized list of government schools and the medical professionals who would be willing to donate time for a health screening. An interdisciplinary and synergistic approach to health care is vital to progress. I was fortunate to have been connected with Indian and Swiss interns from whom I was exposed to the status of health care policy and delivery in a spectrum of global environments. To add to the discussions, I represented the United States in two scholarly panels conducted in medical colleges, one focused on emergency and critical care and the other on vaccine use and regulation.
And for those of you reading, I urge you to travel. Measure your knowledge in the amount of places you’ve visited, the people you’ve met, and the experiences you’ve been immersed in. Travel is a beautiful catalyst for personal growth and ultimately aids us in making optimum contributions to our global society. Yuva for Sewa is a summer internship offered by Sewa International USA that focuses on service projects in India and Caribbean countries. It is an opportunity for college students to contribute their time to a larger movement of serving humanity.
If you wish to know more about the program log on tohttp://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-appeal and be a part of this wonderful experience. Interested candidates, please apply online @http://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-2013, the applications are accepted on rolling basis, final deadline being April 15th 2014. Sooner you apply sooner you get the decision.
For the next three days, under the guidance of the Hyderabad chapter of Youth for Seva, we travelled in and around the city. The purpose of this traveling was to visit a variety of NGOs (specialized in different fields) which were partnering volunteer efforts with Youth for Seva. YFS intended to expose the international interns not only to opportunities to build their individual internship projects but to Indian culture as well. Despite myself being of Indian origin, this exposure was vital to expanding my cultural sensitivity as well since each state in India is beautifully unique (in terms of language, attire, food, etiquette etc.)
All too soon, our orientation came to an end. It was time to head to the real location of our internship. We spent part of the day helping allocate supplies for a School Kit Drive YFS Hyderabad was conducting. The goal of this initiative was to provide free school supplies (sealed inside a new backpack) to approximately 10,000 children all over Hyderabad. After several hours of volunteering, we emerged fatigued but motivated by this ambitious project. We bid thanks + goodbyes to the wonderful team at YFS Hyderabad as well as the other three international interns and boarded a 15-hour bus ride directly to Bengaluru, in the state of Karnataka, India. I chose to do this internship with a team called “Doctors for Seva”, the health initiative of Youth for Seva in Bengaluru. The program Doctors for Seva is focused primarily on raising awareness and accessibility to public health services for marginalized slum populations and students of government schools. Such services include basic medical care, health screenings, health education portals and materials, psychiatric consulting, and access to support groups organized by Doctors for Seva volunteers. The direct relevance to public health is the preventative and treatment based healthcare being offered free of charge to underprivileged children. They benefit from a guaranteed annual medical checkup, any additional medications they need, and a foundation of knowledge about basic health facts and guidelines. DFS Blog:http://doctorsforseva.blogspot.com/ DFS Website:http://www.doctorsforseva.youthforseva.org/
For my first taste of Doctors for Seva (DFS) in action, I accompanied a team of DFS volunteers to a small village near the city of Tumkur (about a 3 hour drive away from Bengaluru). The schedule for the day included a corporate-sponsored school kit distribution carried out by corporate volunteers from Dell (they sponsored the cost of the supplies, assembled, and distributed the kits). In addition, the DFS initiative for the day was a female menstrual hygiene awareness workshop. The workshop wasn’t the one-sided, monotone lecture I endured when in high school. It was epic. Recently, several DFS volunteers had collaborated with graphic designers to create an animated video called “Mythri”. This creative and educational video – both in the native language Kannada and with English subtitles – offered very clean, straightforward, and youth-friendly insight into female menstruation and its myths and facts. The core project I was assigned to was entitled “Doctor at School” (DAS), a public health initiative which focused on providing free medical care to government school children, ranging from age 4-15. DAS accomplished the task of serving government schools all over Bengaluru (with up to 500+ children in each) by recruiting non-medical and medical volunteers to carry out pre-health and health screenings, respectively.
Primarily, I designed and reformatted template letters to send to hospitals and clinics around the city to inform them of our unique volunteering program and recruit medical doctors to conduct health screenings. For approximately a week, I also travelled with my mentor – Shashikala ji, a DFS coordinator – to various government schools and adjacent hospitals/clinics to connect the two entities to each other. Meetings, meetings, meetings! Fortunately, both sides were extremely cooperative and we eventually compiled an organized list of government schools and the medical professionals who would be willing to donate time for a health screening. An interdisciplinary and synergistic approach to health care is vital to progress. I was fortunate to have been connected with Indian and Swiss interns from whom I was exposed to the status of health care policy and delivery in a spectrum of global environments. To add to the discussions, I represented the United States in two scholarly panels conducted in medical colleges, one focused on emergency and critical care and the other on vaccine use and regulation.
And for those of you reading, I urge you to travel. Measure your knowledge in the amount of places you’ve visited, the people you’ve met, and the experiences you’ve been immersed in. Travel is a beautiful catalyst for personal growth and ultimately aids us in making optimum contributions to our global society. Yuva for Sewa is a summer internship offered by Sewa International USA that focuses on service projects in India and Caribbean countries. It is an opportunity for college students to contribute their time to a larger movement of serving humanity.
If you wish to know more about the program log on tohttp://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-appeal and be a part of this wonderful experience. Interested candidates, please apply online @http://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-2013, the applications are accepted on rolling basis, final deadline being April 15th 2014. Sooner you apply sooner you get the decision.
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