How This 44-Year-Old ASHA Worker Is Using Education To Transform Lives In Bengaluru Slums

Ameena Begum, 44, is one of tens of thousands of all-female ground-level healthcare workers in India who are serving the local communities selflessly.

As an ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker, Ameena Begum has played a crucial role in linking the community with the health system and making primary health care services accessible to those living in urban and rural areas.

Prior to this, Ameena Begum worked in the rural areas of the capital. After completing several rounds of training, she moved to providing her services to shanties of urban areas.

She has been educating the urban slums of Bengaluru on accessing healthcare provisions, ensuring the last-mile reach of the facilities and clearing misconceptions about contraception, family planning, mother's health, etc.

Since the pandemic hit India, Ameena Begum has toiled, providing door-to-door services, tracing symptomatic patients, providing medications to the sick, educating them on the COVID-19 outbreak and precautions they need to take.

The importance of her work goes far beyond just a profession as an income source. Ameena Begum says the impact of her work in people's lives is what pushes her to be on the field every day.