Shridevi's second chance

Shridevi is a 19 year old from Latur, who is now employed as a bedside assistant at a local hospital. Prior to taking the bedside assistant course, Shridevi stayed at home after failing to complete the 10^th standard. At home, she was extremely unhappy and felt like she was not doing anything meaningful with her life. Not only was she staying idle, but she was also craving to support her family’s only means of income, which came from her father’s occupation as a laborer. Less than a year after staying at home, Shridevi now finds herself satisfied helping others and earning a salary equivalent to that of a nurse.

Shridevi’s fate changed when an alumna of the bedside assistant program told her about the course. One of Shridevi’s neighbors had taken the course a year before her and was now happily employed. Shridevi could not believe that her neighbor was able to go through such a transformation in less than a year and was keen on completing the course. Upon arriving at the center, Shridevi struggled with the curriculum. At school and at home, she was used to speaking only Marathi. In the course, she was expected to learn, memorize, and recite her curriculum, half of which was in English. Only with several hours of dedicated practice a day was she able to successfully complete the course.

Prior to becoming a bedside assistant, Shridevi was given very few responsibilities at home. Now, she is trusted with a variety of crucial tasks in the hospital ranging from taking patients’ blood pressure to inserting IVs into patients. With her responsibilities continuously increasing, her salary has also risen as well. Her employer described Shridevi as a student who learns quickly, loves her job, and has a warm demeanor when interacting with patients.