Within the past decade, the life of a 43-year-old South African woman, Zelda Petrus, has taken a 180-degree turn. It’s been both a change in attitude and direction.

In 1997, Petrus’ husband, who was a policeman, was killed in a single-vehicle wreck. “He was a good guy, but that day, he had too much to drink and was involved in a car accident,” she said. “He had a lot of alcohol in his blood, he went off the road and the car turned over six times. He died instantly. I lost everything.”

The couple’s son was just an infant.

Understandably, Petrus despised wine, but in 2001, when her son was 5 years old and in kindergarten, she needed to find work to survive. Eventually, an entry-level position as a cleaner was advertised at Steenberg Vineyards. “I thought I would do anything, just as long as I was in contact with people, because I felt I was going into a deep depression.”