Malebogo Molefhe is a profile in courage.

An activist against gender-based violence, she came to Colorado on the heels of a trip to Washington, D.C., to accept an International Woman of Courage award.

We met up with the Botswanan in Denver’s Botanic Gardens, where she told us about her decade of work teaching women and girls to not tolerate violence committed by their family members or romantic partners.

Domestic violence “knows no border,” she said. “It can happen to anyone.”

It’s a lesson she learned the hard way.

Life detours for basketball starTen years ago, at the height of her career as a professional basketball player for the national team in Botswana, an ex-boyfriend tried to kill her. He shot her, then shot himself.

Her ex-boyfriend died in what is known as a “passion killing” in her country. Molefhe survived, but life as she knew it came to an end.

The injuries left her paralyzed from the waist down, and in a wheelchair. They also killed her career.

But Molefhe didn’t let the brutal attack take her spirit. She took the energy she had always invested in athletics and poured it into  activism.

She admits that she initially struggled to adjust to life in a wheelchair. But, with the can-do attitude of an athlete, she says that she learned to overcome the challenges.

“I don’t let it affect my work,” she said. “Every day you read about painful stories, or you wake up not feeling like yourself. But the job has to be done. You can’t stop because your emotions aren’t good that day.”

Gender-based violence is a major problem internationally: The United Nations estimates that, globally, one in three women become victims of physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. (Many studies suggest that number also applies to to the U.S.)

The issue is even worse in Botswana, where an estimated two-thirds of women deal with violence at the hands of their partners or family members.

Molefhe says that leaders in her country are simply not doing enough to raise awareness about violence against women. She says she would like to see Botswanan politicians use their platforms and power to spread her message: that women must be educated to identify abuse in its earliest stages, and to have the self-confidence to walk away from their abusers.

“Every day I tell young girls the importance of being in healthy relationships, and noticing abuse when it happens, and reporting it,” she said.

International Woman of Courage award draws attention to Molefhe’s workThe prestigious awards are sponsored by the U.S. State Department, and this year were handed out by Melania Trump.

“The fact that I was honored by the First Lady added so much value to it,” Molefhe told us.

A decade after Molefhe was nearly shot dead, the International Women of Courage award is bringing more attention than ever to her activism. She says she’s grateful for the honor — because it will help get out the word about domestic violence, in Botswana and beyond.

Watch a clip of our interview with Molefhe here. And, coming up, we’ll tell you more about her visit to Colorado … and about her touching encounter this week with members of two local organizations, WorldDenver and Craig Hospital, who rallied to get Molefhe a much-needed custom-fit wheelchair to take home to Botswana.