Internship Blog: Topher Hoffmann Post #2

It’s been almost a month into my internship already, and I can’t believe time has passed so quickly. With weekly seminars and my project’s tasks – which range from data analysis, to database management, to community/government partnerships – the NYC DOHMH has kept me busy!

One of my first tasks was to analyze the technical assistance that DOHMH offers to community organizations which provide HIV post-exposure prophylaxis and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PEP and PrEP, respectively) in New York City. A part of this included analyzing survey responses from more than 50 agencies to assess strengths and weaknesses and what services are most needed. Hopefully this will help to focus the Bureau’s efforts in supporting PEP/PrEP services in NYC. 

If you’re unfamiliar with PEP and/or PrEP, in concept they are more tools in our arsenal to disrupt the spread of HIV. Used in conjunction with other protection like condoms, PEP is antiretroviral drug treatment that a person begins within 72 hours of a believed exposure to HIV. PrEP is a drug that a person takes once a day to prevent HIV infection should that person be exposed. People in HIV prevention are paying more and more attention to PrEP because it’s relatively new, and it’s been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection by up to 92% when its regimen is adhered to.

In addition to analyzing technical assistance data, I am coordinating the Brooklyn arm of New York Knows. New York Knows is the descendant of The Bronx Knows and of Brooklyn Knows, which were two borough-specific HIV testing initiatives that mobilized hundreds of community partners (see my first post for more).

This month, my team is preparing an end-of-initiative report about this recently completed first phase of Brooklyn Knows. We want to know exactly how many people were tested each quarter over its four years, how many people tested positive, how many positives were first-time diagnoses, and how many of each of the latter two groups were linked to treatment. Currently, I am pinpointing holes in the data and implementing a plan to collect that data. The report will be distributed at our Partner Appreciation Reception in August – a 200+ person event which I am also in charge of planning! J

Outside of my direct project, my internship program coordinates seminars to introduce us to various other public health projects each week. Run as lecture-style workshops, each one has honestly been as interesting as the last. We’ve heard from NYC’s plan to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero, an innovative approach to mental health and emotional crisis treatment, NYC’s Center for Health Equity, and an obesity prevention approach which utilizes collaboration with designers, architects, and city planners to optimize the city’s built environment. Tomorrow we’re learning about DOHMH’s response to the Ebola outbreak.

On top of that, the Bureau of HIV Prevention and Control (BHIV) has been great hosts. While there are 120 interns this summer across all of the Department’s Bureaus, my Bureau has about eight to 10 interns. Each week, we meet as a small group with different leaders in BHIV to talk about their roles, career paths, HIV in general, and about public health in general.

There is more that I’m leaving out, but I’ll save that for my next post! I’ll let these photos do the rest of the talking for today… Until next time!

 

Group photo from the DOHMH float in NYC’s Pride Parade – June 28, 2015

  On the DOHMH float with fellow Pitt graduate student, Chantz Anderson – June 28, 2015

 

Pitt was representing at NYC Pride! On the DOHMH float with Rene Lloyd (class of 2012) – June 28, 2015

 

 

At Love + Politics, a National HIV Testing Day reception, with one of my co-interns, Aiyana Wells – June 30, 2015

Internship Blog: Luke West Post #5

Living Luxuriously

“With $5,000 in India, you can live like a king for six months.”

India is cheap.  Like really cheap.  I was told before I came that the cost of living was considerably less than the US.  Sure, I understood. Things cost a little less; a dollar can stretch further.

 Understatement of the century.

When I first got to India I set aside $200 for my spending money.  Hopefully, this would cover going to eat, buying groceries, cabs and other miscellaneous expenses.   Once exchanged to Indian Rupees,  it came out to a little less than ₹13,000.

I have a currency converter on my phone and it is pretty easy to estimate prices with $1 = ₹60, however, the first couple weeks were kind of busy.  I was so preoccupied with the sights and sounds and new experiences that I was the least concerned about how much I was spending.

After about 2 or 3 weeks in, I realized I barely even made a dent in my spending money.  I looked at my stack of rupees and almost all of it was still there.  “How is this possible?” I thought.  Ever since, I have been paying much more attention to prices and the value of items and various other things associated with the cost of living in India.  It is pretty staggering.

A typical meal from a small, fast food-like hotel (read: restaurant) costs about ₹100 rupees or less, or a buck and some change.

A meal from a “nicer” sit-down, usually A/C restaurant will cost about ₹250 or about $4.

A 1l bottle of water is ₹20 or about 30 cents.

A 16oz bottle of coke is around ₹35 or 50 cents.

A cup of tea (chai) is usually ₹10.

An uber across the city is maybe $2.

Tickets to the evening showing of jurassic world, slightly over $2.

One of the first things I did was go to the grocery store.  I bought eggs, milk, bread, cereal, some snacks, some fruit, some pop.  A list that would usually cost around $30 dollars in the US was not even $10.  I put ₹150 on my Indian mobile hoping it would be enough to cover the calls/texts I make here; 5 weeks later and I’ve barely touched ₹30 rupees worth.  It is insane. Everyday items are so inexpensive.

I am writing this from a trip to Hyderabad. I am currently staying an wealthy area of the city in an apartment rented by two Americans, Kate and Justin, who are friends of friends of Varghese. The apartment is absolutely massive.  I believe it was already furnished, but it one large open area with two sitting spaces and huge kitchen, two balconies. Attached are 3 massive bedrooms each with a balcony and a bath. This type of place would cost thousands in the US, especially being in a wealthy part of the city. Kate and Justin are both doctors so I’m sure the money wasn’t an issue but I was curious as to what they paid for rent.

35,000 rupees a month. May seem like a lot, but it’s not. It’s shy of $600. It’s insane. $600 can’t get you a bathroom in parts of Pittsburgh. It’s actually less than my small apartment in Friendship. To an average American it’s pretty normal rent. To those with money, it’s a steal. To Indians, it’s unaffordable.

In fact, the only thing I’ve noticed here that Is more expensive than the US is gas which, after some conversions, comes out somewhere in the 4$/gallon range. Alcohol is fairly comparable to the US. A beer is about $3-$4. Other than that it’s crazy.

One thing I have noticed though is, like everything else in the world, it all adds up. If you keep doing the conversions and thinking how inexpensive everything is, you’ll run out of money. I’ve heard this from many other foreigners here and seen it myself.

The sad part is, the above is of course only true for us privileged outsiders. For the average Indian, food, housing, entertainment is expensive. Indians are very proud people. They work extremely hard for their income, which is generally low.

Labor is so cheap here it’s insane. Almost every nicer restaurant I’ve seen is over staffed to a crazy degree. Here in Hyderabad they recently got their first Starbucks. It’s in the wealthy area if town and I figured I would check it out. It was the biggest I’ve seen with two huge floors, everything brand new and nice. The different part was the staff. It was 10 at night and they close at 1030. There were maybe 15 customers served by at least 10 employees. They weren’t busy and about to close yet still had all these people working. 5 guys behind the counter, one walking around explaining the types of coffee to customers, one offering to try a freshly baked brownie, one giving a demonstration of some kind and others just standing around. It’s weird. The same is true for nice restaurants as well. They’re are so many waiters and hosts and guys standing there looking attentive but don’t do anything it’s actually overwhelming.

The point is, these people can’t be paid much at all. It’s sad. Labor is so cheap businesses don’t care to cut hours or limit workers, they just over staff and over staff.

I’m sitting here talking about the life of luxury an American can live with a few thousand dollars while most Indians won’t see that much in a year. And I’ve been talking mostly about wealthy areas in Hyderabad, not the millions and millions and Indians living outside the wealthy areas, outside of cities, and in the poor rural villages and towns. They’re lucky to see that much in a lifetime.

It’s great but humbling at the same time. Just like all of India. The disparities between westernization and tradition, being liberal and conservative, between developed and underdeveloped, and between rich and poor are the most noticeable things in this country. And it’s these issues that the country is struggling with and will come to define it over the next few decades.