Florence Mudzingwa is a Zimbabwean disability rights activist, social enterprise founder and writer.

Biography

Mudzingwa was born weighing 1.4 kg, was diagnosed with

osteogenesis imperfecta Osteogenesis imperfecta (; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that bone fracture, break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other Or ...

(which makes bones fragile and prone to injury), and her parents were told by their doctor that she would only live up to five months old. She was educated at George VI Memorial in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

, before studying towards a BSc in Counselling with the

Zimbabwe Open University Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) is an open distance education university in Zimbabwe. Established in 1999, ZOU is the only distance education university in the country that offers an opportunity for students to earn as they learn. Student enrol ...

(ZOU). She had learnt about the ZOU after they exhibited at a Disability Expo. Mudzingwa is also a certified Emotional Intelligence and Personal Development Coach with the International Coaching and Mentoring Foundation (ICMF), known as "Coach Flow." In 2013, Mudzingwa founded the

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...

Hope Resurrect Trust, which promotes disability awareness and inclusion, does advocacy work relating to the welfare of persons with disabilities and empowers girls and women with disabilities to be independent and contribute economically. Supporting partners include the embassies of Australia, Canada and Malawi, and local organisations Alive Albinism and the Deaf Zimbabwe Trust. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mudzingwa used

WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...

to encourage girls living with disabilities to sell items such as facemasks so that they could support themselves and their families. She has explained that: "they can relate to me. They say "if she is working, we can also work." This is not a time for self-pity, being a woman and living with disability should not turn us into charity cases." She has published the semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

book ''Life: The Art of Living Your Dreams'' in 2021'','' which was celebrated at a launch event at Three Anchor House that was attended by the Australian

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Zimbabwe Bronte Moules. In 2019, Mudzingwa was awarded the Women Living with Disability Making an Impact in Society award during a conference celebrating women with disabilities, and in 2024, she became a fellow of the

Vital Voices Global Partnership Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international, 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. The organiza ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudzingwa, Florence Living people Zimbabwean disability rights activists Zimbabwean women activists Zimbabwean women writers Women founders