Wendy Chan - Introductory Post

Namaste.

My name is Wendy Chan and you’ll be hearing from me over the next 6 months.

It is my first time to India and so far I’ve found Bangalore a vibrant, friendly and beautiful city.  I am looking forward to being immersed in the various different cultures, spices and contrasts and contradictions that is India. Above all I am really excited to be doing a 6 month internship here with AarogyaSeva as part of my 6 month IDEX Global Fellowship Program.   

The IDEX Global Fellows program is a 6 month curriculum filled with curated readings, professional development assignments and workshops, one on one mentoring and coaching as well as a placement in local organisation. IDEX’s mission is to create the next wave of individuals who will innovate, develop and promote solutions to social challenges within an existing enterprise or organisation. To find out more please head to: http://www.idexfellows.com/

There are 14 other fellows as part of my cohort at IDEX this year and they have been placed with a diverse range of organisations such as Ashoka, LabourNet, Wings and Shenomics. I’m hoping we can leverage off these networks for some mutually beneficial outcomes.  Last week we were given the opportunity to settle into our new city, get to know each other and hear from a diverse range of speakers.  One of the highlights was our visit to AMBA.

AMBA provides training to the intellectually challenged so that they can be employed to do back office data entry jobs. This brings life changing fulfillment and economic empowerment to the individuals and reduces the economic burden on their families.  Further to that, AMBA provides free training to organisations that would be keen to empower intellectually challenged in their local communities. To date they there are 105 AMBA partners spanning 17 states, impacting over 3,200 intellectually disabled adults and growing.  If you know of anyone with data entry work or would be keen to get in touch with AMBA let me know.  Otherwise to find out more please head over to their website: http://www.ambaforlife.org/

So a little about me, I’m originally from Hong Kong though as I grew up in Australia I do associate myself as an Aussie.  Still I think my Chinese heritage has deeply influenced my perspective. I was most recently working in Banking where I helped managed a portfolio of both small enterprises and large multinational corporates customers from a diverse range of industries including but not limited to retirement and aged care operators, car dealerships, label manufacturers and property investors.  Prior to that I was previously a pharmacist and so have an understanding of the dynamics and challenges of providing healthcare to the community.  

During my time at AarogyaSeva I’m looking to increase brand awareness particularly via social media, grow the AarogyaSeva Student Chapter and help coordinate various other activities and initiatives.  I am looking forward to meeting the team and engaging with AarogyaSeva supporters.

We are open to suggestions, ideas and feedback so please feel free to drop us a line.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AarogyaSeva and AarogyaSeva does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

To get in touch with the author or to join our team write to us at – Volunteer@aarogyaseva.org

Wendy Chan, Australia - 11 January 2016 - 11 July 2016

 Wendy Chan has joined us as part of the January 2016 IDEX  fellowship. The IDEX Global Fellows program is a 6 month  curriculum filled with curated readings, professional  development assignments and workshops, one on one  mentoring and coaching as well as a placement in local  organisation. IDEX’s mission is to create the next wave of    individuals who will innovate, develop and promote solutions to  social challenges within an existing enterprise or organisation.

 Wendy is originally from Hong Kong though has spent most of  her time growing up in Brisbane Australia.  She has over 5 years  experience in banking looking after the requirements of both  family owned and multinational listed corporations. Prior to  this she was a registered pharmacist with close to 7 years experience in the community setting. She holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy and a Masters of Commerce Adv (Accounting) from the University of Queensland.

During her time with AarogyaSeva Wendy is seeking to increase our brand awareness and interactions with supporters particularly via use of social media.  She will regularly update the blog, look to engage and build AarogyaSeva student chapters whilst also helping out where she can.

Wendy can be reached at Wendy@aarogyaseva.org

Annelies - Blog Week 4

 The time flies here in India. It is already the last week of my internship. The last week I spent my time on the Cosmetic Dermatology department. This department has a lot of similarity to the treatments of the Skin Therapist in the Netherlands. The Skin Therapist is in the Netherlands furnished to have a collaboration with the (para)medical disciplines in particular the Dermatologist. As I described before, Skin Therapy is very unknown around the world. In the collaboration between the skin therapist and the Dermatologist, the Dermatlogist mainly sees cases such as acne, excessive hair growth, chemical peelings, microderm abrasion, camouflage, laser treatment, micro needling to the Skin Therapist. Skin therapists can treat up to a certain depth into the skin and if the case does not belong to their knowledge, it is forwarded to the dermatologist, or another professionals. It was good to see the similarities of treatments, but also the different ways of treating the cases. I have learned a lot about different scar treatment techniques. What is known about scars is that the treatment is complex, especially the deeper scars. I can take it with me in the work field of the skin treatment in The Netherlands or  in other places where they do not use this techniques yet.

What I really like at the internship in India was to learn more of the treatment of the colored (pigmentation) skin, the different healthcare system compared to the western world, and the diversity of cases. I saw many cases I had previously only seen in pictures. But it was all above the whole experience.

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I think it's a good addition to my professional experience, but also to my professional development by seeing different cultures and lifestyles. But it is not the end of my ‘abroad experience’. The next destination is Nepal. I am going to do two weeks of volunteering for the victims of the earthquake. 

Disclaimer: Annelies is a native Dutch speaker. This article has not been edited for either content or grammar.  The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AarogyaSeva and AarogyaSeva does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

To get in touch with the author or to join our team write to us at – Volunteer@aarogyaseva.org

Annelies - Blog Week 3

The context of this week was the international conference in Mysore. The 4 days were all about the gender equity: social issues and health challenges in today’s context. The international conference was on the university of Mysore. The first day was all about transgender issues. The special was that there were 3 speakers who have to deal with the transgender issues. They shared their experiences and this made the topic more empathetic and they put some power behind it.

The next day came there 3 other speakers of Aarogyaseva. They made a movie about transgenders and showed the life here in India trough they eyes. Near the movie was a powerful speech. This was a good combination which held the attention of the public.

On this conference i saw a lot of presentations and i met people from all over the world, but i didn’t only listen, i presented my topic as well. The skin therapist is very unknown around the world. This conference was a good opportunity to make the change in this. The presentation was about the profiling of the skin therapist. I shared my experiences of the healthcare in India. I told them about the treatments we do and what we could mean for the healthcare. Even in the Netherlands is the skin therapist not very well known. It was a pleasure to do a presentation on this conference. I was a little nervous, but after the presentation i was glad i did it!

Next week i will observate the cosmetic department of the dermatology. That is already the last week in India, but fortunately, it is not the end of my volunteer experience, then I'm going to Nepal to volunteer two more weeks!

Disclaimer: Annelies is a native Dutch speaker. This article has not been edited for either content or grammar.  The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AarogyaSeva and AarogyaSeva does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

To get in touch with the author or to join our team write to us at – Volunteer@aarogyaseva.org

Annelies - Blog Week 2

The time goes very fast here in India. I finished already the second week of my internship. This week was very varied. The first three days were at the dermatology department. I saw here different cases and treatments. Among other skin cancers, hair transplantation, the injection of scars, the removal of cysts. It was very interesting. Also i followed a college about injectables and about fat transplantation. The hair transplantation treatment lasted ten hours. I was allowed to assist with the cutting of the hairs from the proper tissue that had been removed from the occiput.

The theme of the other three days was the Indian Inclusion Summit event in Bangalore and the project of Professor Luis Columna from the USA. He showed his program for physical activity for children with disabilities. He gave a presentation at the Bangalore Medical college. Also we went to organizations for children with disabilities and next year he want to come with his students to India to start the program. Hopefully i am in the possibility to help out with the program and to learn more about this field of the healthcare.

On saturday we went to the Indian Inclusion Summit event. The combination of presentations of people with disabilities and medische disciplines was very interesting. There were very inspirating stories. I like to see the powerful stories of the strong people. They have a great perseverance to pursue the quality of life as good as possible.

This was my blog of my second week here in India. Next week i go to Mysore for an international conference. I will give here a presentation about the profession skin therapist.

Disclaimer: Annelies is a native Dutch speaker. This article has not been edited for either content or grammar.  The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AarogyaSeva and AarogyaSeva does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

To get in touch with the author or to join our team write to us at – Volunteer@aarogyaseva.org

Annelies - Blog Week 1

The first week of the internship in the burns department.

The first week of my internship is already finished. I have gained a lot of impressions and I learned a lot on the burns department, especially because of the many other cases from the Netherlands. The most common case on the burns department is of gas stove. So you can see the importance of prevention. This week i learned a lot about the diagnosis and the treatment of burns. The hospital is building a skin bank. They showed me the building and explained about it.  With this addition to the burns treatment, the healing process is improved and the scarring is reduced.

On the burns derpartment they pay much attention to the prevention of fractures. Movement restrictions and adhesion can occur in 6-8 hours. During my internship I followed a interesting college about this subject. It is a very varied combination of learning. So comes the theoretical and practical side together.

The burns has not only a influence on the body, but also on the daily life. Many patients are children or adults. They have their whole life in front of them. What will do the burns scars with the quality of life? How will react the people around them?

During my internship i will do a research about the reaction and the emotions of others about the burn scars. It is a very interesting topic for a research.

During my stay in the burns department I realised the importance of the skin. It protects you very well to the influence from the outside. If your skin is not functioning. Then there can occur a lot of damage to the inner layer structures of the body. I saw this by many cases on the burns department, some patients did not survive.

You can see that burns have a influence on the social, psychological and physical health.

Take care of yourself. Especially with fire and other health objects, because prevention is better than resolving.

Disclaimer: Annelies is a native Dutch speaker. This article has not been edited for either content or grammar.  The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AarogyaSeva and AarogyaSeva does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

To get in touch with the author or to join our team write to us at – Volunteer@aarogyaseva.org

Exercise, Sports and Physical Therapy in Hemophilia