Pratibha Kumari is a Soapstone Fellow working at Enable India, whose story is an epitome of grit and courage. 

Pratibha is the youngest and the only girl child in her family. She hails from Hariharpur Vaidyalaya village in Begusarai, Bihar. She lost her mother in 1998, when she was less than eight years old, and her father lost employment in 2001. Her father took up alcohol and her brothers left the house to find jobs. In 2007, she fell from the roof and injured her spine. Attempts to rehabilitate failed, and the doctor told that she would not be able to walk again.

Undeterred, she did not let it wither her spirit. She won gold medals in para-athletics in state championships for javelin throw, discus and shotput. With the support of NGOs, she has also been able to complete her education, and acquired a postgraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. 

She has been the sole breadwinner for her family since 2017, and has been working multiple part-time jobs to support her family. She aspires to be a social entrepreneur and a disability professional, so that she can work towards the welfare of persons with disabilities in India. 

She is one of 18 people to be elected for the Soapstone Fellowship from Enable India, which is a leader in disability livelihood movement. She needs a laptop to pursue the fellowship, which is like a year long internship. She has not had a computer ever in her life, and last year, a friend of hers gifted her a second hand laptop to work, but now it has become dysfunctional. 

This fundraiser has been created to help her to purchase a laptop, and also cover some of her living expenses, as she needs to move to Bangalore to pursue the fellowship. 

Kindly support Pratibha in pursuing her dreams and achieve personal and professional success.