As a child, Georgina Mamba didn’t fit in with the other students at her school in Lusaka, Zambia, after polio left her a paraplegic. As she got older and her parents could no longer care for her, they sent her away to a boarding school that turned out to be an orphanage for children with disabilities, but the school’s academics were lacking. It wasn’t until the seventh grade that she entered a school that provided the education she deserved, and years later she went on to earn her master’s degree in Australia. Today, the now 36 year-old works as a statistician for Zambia’s Ministry of Tourism and Arts and recently served as one of the 1,000 Mandela Washington Fellows under President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. She hopes that by sharing her story she can inspire others with disabilities. “For someone like myself, who’s in a wheelchair, yes, let the building be accessible so I can get into the room,” she said. “But also, when I come into the room, see me. See me for my strengths. Accept my limitations. But focus on my potential.”

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