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In this instalment I will focus on the courageous exploits of her partner, Gladys Charowa, who was the co-founder and executive director of Disabled Support Organisation.
Gladys grew up in a rural set-up in Zuze in Makoni district of Manicaland. She attended formal school up to Form Two only.

Her formal schooling was disrupted by the liberation war.  After the war she attained her O-Levels by correspondence.
Thereafter, she attained a Diploma in    Marketing Management from the Institute of Marketing of South Africa and Masters in Business Administration from Nottingham Trent University.

She wanted to be a marketing director of a company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. However, her working life and ambitions were shattered in December 2011, when she was involved in an accident and she sustained T12/L1 spinal cord injury.

After the accident she could not continue with her job as a personal assistant, given her new physical disposition as a wheelchair- bound person.
Even her professional aspirations took a somersault as well. However, her responsibilities to her two sons and her general upkeep actually increased.

Having been born without disability, coping with the new condition was a nightmare for this single mother.
After undergoing counselling, she accepted that her disability was permanent and she had to make do with the new condition.

This radically transformed her thinking process and her focus. She became a new  creation.
She had to rely on her intellect instead of her physic. Despite being confined to a wheelchair her mind conceived that she could still fly despite her new condition.

This thought later on became the payoff line for Disabled Support Organisation “Despite disability we can fly”.
She walked her talk by becoming so     fanatically industrious. She would spend several nights awake working on her computer.
She and her computer were inseparable. She hunted for possible opportunities with the aggression similar to that of a female lion.

Her appetite to produce results was similar to that of someone who is infested with an incurable disease, who would go to any lengths to get a cure.
When she set herself a target, she would not sleep before her task had been completed.

Once her mind conceived a goal, it became an obsession and she would not stop at      anything until achieving the goal.
If she heard or knew somebody who could help her to achieve her set a goal, she would not sleep until she contacted that person whether by phone or in person.
Gladys is the personification of the saying, “When one door closes, another one opens”.

There are opportunities everywhere you are. In whatever circumstances and condition you find yourself in, the windows of opportunities can still open up.
The missing link between opportunities and you is in most cases you and your belief systems.

Several consulting opportunities opened up for her to such an extent that her net worth as a disabled person far outweighed when she was still an able-bodied person.
Her quest for exceptional service levels to her customers was an ideal she fought to protect and foster.

She would respond to all her emails and phone calls within eight hours (whether it was a beep or call me back).
At one of the stakeholder meetings held by the Disabled Support Organisation, some funding partners complained about information and work overload from Gladys’ office.
Her answer surprised most people who were present that day: “My esteemed partners, I sincerely understand your concern. If you put yourself in my shoes you would understand that I cannot do it any other way.

“I have to keep you abreast of issues as they take place, not because I will be handsomely rewarded but because it is the correct way of doing it. I will never settle for second best solutions even if it means funding partners withdrawing your purse.”

She dedicated her time and effort to ensuring that anything she touched could result in the best it could possibly be.
As a way of giving back to community, she founded and incorporated other people to launch Disabled Support Women Organisation, which is still operating even though she is now late.

Disabled Women Support Organisation is a non-governmental organisation that focuses on women and girls with disabilities, mainly concentrating and focusing on those with spinal cord injuries.

The organisation’s main thrust is to physically and economically empower women and girls with disabilities.
Just after two years living with disability, she researched widely and authored a book entitled, “Facts About Living with Spinal Cord Injuries”.

She travelled all over the world presenting papers on disability, gender, poverty and   violence for women with disabilities.
In our life endeavours we suffer life shattering setbacks in business, professional, political, social and sporting arenas due to our own personal weaknesses.

We also suffer from drawbacks due to   conditions which are beyond our control such as sickness, accidents and relocation related dislocations. The way we respond to these setbacks distinguishes between a loser and a winner.

A winner quickly puts behind the past and casts his/her net wide into the future. Gladys      succeeded by creating opportunities out her new condition instead of crying endlessly for her lost opportunity to be a marketing director.  She redirected her acquired knowledge in a totally new environment and succeeded.

Any experience or knowledge acquired elsewhere can always be relied upon to give you direction and guidance in the future.
It is not wise to continue crying over spilled milk.

The day your milk is spilled is the day you are expected to undergo character transformation in order to acquire better and more refined milk in the future.

• The writer is a managing consultant at CLC Training International. E-mail [email protected].