35-years-old Munnikrishnamma hails from Hollarahalli, Devanhalli Taluk, Bengaluru Rural District. Life has never been easy for her as she was diagnosed with bilateral polio at the early age of one. The illness affected her lower limbs and made mobility very constrained for her. As normal movement was a challenge she had to crawl on her limbs to move around. Trying to make her movement easy Munnikrishnamma’s brother provided her with a wooden board to go to school. Following an unfortunate accident involving her wooden board she refused to continue her education and dropped out of school after completing grade 7. This daily hardship started taking toll on her mind and body and she started getting into depression.

After getting to know about her situation OneStage validated NGO BBH with support from our corporate partner Accenture provided her with a wheelchair. She was now being able to freely move in and around. With her newfound confidence and freedom of mobility, she expressed her desire to contribute to her household as her brother was the only earning member of the family. Considering her restricted mobility, a petty shop was set up close to her house. Her brother agreed to purchase the provisions, stationaries and some fancy items as there were no shops in the village that stock fancy items. She comes to her shop in her wheelchair and is now a well-known figure in her community. Through her venture, she sells merchandise worth 800 to 1,000 rupees and she earns around 200 rupees as net income. During festivals, she earns around 1,500 to 2,000 rupees per day.

She has now taken the initiative to learn tailoring and aspires to start stitching in her free time. Following the intervention Munnikrishnamma’s privacy and ease of being able to independently use the toilet also became a reality. She is not apprehensive about moving around in the house and village anymore. She is fully independent despite her disability and is a proud contributor towards the expenses of her household. Fighting her disability and championing her cause she has earned respect from her community. She is a confident woman who now envisions a brighter future and proactively plans towards it.