CLEANING toilets for a living was not a part of their dream. But that's exactly what Dawnette Baldeo and her husband Greg had to do while living overseas pursuing their dreams for higher education.

There weren't many options and since the Seventh-day Adventist couple had two young sons, they did what they had to do to make ends meet.

"It wasn't my dream to be doing this - cleaning toilets that is — but it went a long way to helping me achieve my dreams," Dawnette said in her usual upbeat and cheerful tone.

At the base of those personal dreams, she said, were to find the right marriage partner, be an entrepreneur and to be financially secure.

"I learnt that there is nothing too menial for me to do if it is legal and morally right in reaching the desired result. It taught me to persevere... to keep my eye on my dream. It taught me that giving up was not an option when you have a dream to pursue," she said.

Her husband cleaned toilets right beside her, while finishing a four-year degree, which he did in only three years. Greg is currently working on his Masters — a dream achieved by one who didn't even finish high school.

As if cleaning toilets were not humbling enough, his wife has also been pelted with body fluid and spat on by an old couple while she worked as a nurse's aid in Florida.

Today, Dawnette is a consultant specialising in customer experience and is the founder and CEO of Faith Management Company, a human resource training consultancy started in 2008, while Greg is an ordained pastor in Manchester.

The Baldeos, who married on March 25, 2000, have also authored a book titled I Believe in My Dream, which was launched in April of this year.

In spite of their relative succcess, however, the couple said it was the challenges of their past that have helped shape their future and for this reason, the book aims to motivate young people to focus on and achieve their dreams.

"The negative situations and circumstances didn't shape me. Instead, I shaped them to suit my purpose. I learnt some hard life lessons, but from them I gleaned the principles and guidelines that we have placed in the book so that others, especially our youth, will be able to learn from us," said Dawnette.

"Having travelled to several countries, I found that there were a lot of young people who had dreams (but) had no idea how to accomplish them. We decided that with our experiences, we would give (them) tools to assist them on the pathway of achieving their dreams," she said, adding: "My challenge to young people is go for your dreams. Stop at nothing that is morally right. If the door is closed, go through the window and if that closes, go to the roof, but never give up on your dreams."

Born Dawnette Lee Usherwood in Lucea, Hanover, she is the only biological child of Leroy and Mearlina Usherwood. Though her parents did not make it beyond All-Age school, she was told at an early age that going to college was a must. Her father, an auto mechanic, worked literally night and day to help her acquire tertiary education.

She attended Rusea's High School up to sixth form, taught English for one year at Green Island Comprehensive High, then went overseas for another year. Upon returning home, she enrolled at CAST (now the University of Technology) and after three years she achieved a Diploma in Business Administration.

In 1994, at age 23, she worked as a junior accountant at KPMG Peat Marwick. In that same year, her father, who had started building the family home got a major stroke and the family was told he would not live.

"He could barely speak, but the words he managed to choke out were, "I won't be able to finish my house," Dawnette recalled. "The house was only half finished, but since completing it seemed to be weighing heavily on him, I promised him that I would see it done. How was I going to do this? I had no idea."

Two years later, through strong-will, determination, much prayer, and what she desbribes as a "miracle loan" from the National Housing Trust, she made good on her promise to her dad. He has since recovered and is giving support to his wife who is terminally ill.

But the struggles weren't over for the Baldeos. In fact, it seemed they had just begun. In 1997, while a student at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), she was struck by a debilitating illness that is, up to today, undiagnosed.

"When my ongoing illness started I was very depressed and didn't want to pursue my dreams, but I realised that I needed to get back on track because the doctors could not say what was wrong with me. I decided to focus on my dreams instead of my illness," she said.

The illness caused her right side to go numb and is very painful depending on the severity of the particular attack. This occurs on average once per week and lasts for two to three days. This goes on for about three months and then breaks for about two months.

To make matters worse, in her final semester of FAU, she had a major car accident in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the car crossed over five busy lanes on Highway 95 before flipping to land on its side. She suffered neck and back injuries, but recovered to graduate with a degree in International Business.

But even with a life fraught with challenges, Dawnette did not allow her dreams to die. Since August 5, she has been in Alberta, Canada, seeking a diagnosis for her illness and recovering from a hysterectomy.