Polluted river of a Chandigarh slum.

Pigs resting on pile of garbage near a brothel in Chandigarh.

A small windowless room with concrete floor only a few meters away from the polluted river of the Chandigarh slum. This was the brothel in which female sex workers met with clients.

Halfway through my internship with Child Family Health International (CFHI) in India, my perspective of public health not only broadened my scope of the world intellectually and professionally but emotionally and spiritually. In the first three weeks of my program, I analyzed multiple Non-government organizations that provide healthcare resources and programs for member’s impoverished communities around New Delhi and across India. Learning about an NGO focusing on the health care of women and female sex workers in Chandigarh was the most significant and heartbreaking experiences I had, especially when I visited a slum near the town. In that area where me and other students an analyses of the living conditions of female sex workers. It was one of the most disturbing landscapes I had ever seen. I can only describe it as a public health crisis. It was an experience that has motivated me more than ever to pursue a career in medicine and address such devastating issues. After Chandigarh, I was assigned as an intern for a transgender health care advocacy organization known as MITR, where I drafted proposals to enhance funding for the organization to address health rights among the transgender population in Delhi.