Selato and Phampa win Miss Hope Pageants crowns
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday December 5, 2021 06:00
She added that her win allowed her to reach her dream of being a queen. "I think I won the pageant because of the three main aspects that I believe to be a secret in beauty pageants and these are dedication, hard work and self branding. I worked very hard on my projects more than any other thing in Hope because we were told from day one that the project weighs more and one has to be sure and confident on what they are working on. One of the challenges I encountered is time management.
I believe time is something that has to be managed or used wisely especially in beauty pageants,” she revealed. Selato said she got support from a lot of people but she singled out her mother as her greatest support system. She also said at the moment she is still working on raising awareness on child sexual abuse. “I am also looking forward to helping young people in Botswana normalise regular HIV testing even if it means having to get self test kits in pharmacies," she said.
For her part Phampa said her hard work and engaging God in all things made it possible for her to win the title. She, however, pointed out that personally, she experienced a roller-coaster of emotions wondering if she was going to make in or not. Phampa added that she felt the anxiety and a few melt downs while preparing for the finals. "Sometimes going from one place to another alone was hard. Another challenge which really stretched me was going to rehearse in an open area, where there was more space to practice my walks in a spacious environment which meant traveling from where I stay. I had a huge support system, from my director, to people from church, my family and friends," she said.
Selato's first runner up is Katlego Moarabi while the second runner up is Ame Sengalo with Phampa’s first runner up is Pholoso Molefele and the second runner up is Refilwe Mekgwe. "We had the most supportive parent award, which was awarded to the best supportive parent of the reigning Queens of years 2019/20. It was Ruth Gontse, parent to Miss Preteen Hope International 2019/20 who had to act as a queen mother for the teens and Miss Hope category. All awards were sponsored by GIPS. They were given certificates and medals.
It is pleasing act to parent-queen bond in pageantry. In Hope Pageants Botswana we use the words token of appreciation instead of prices for appreciating their hard work.
Miss Teen Hope walked away with Mathematics and Science tuition for her reigning from CRACK it Tuition, cap and crop top from Valentine sports, trophy and medals from GIPS, a trip to Moremi Gorge from Sera Madiba Golden Heart Trust, coverage costs for Cape Town participation be it transport within Cape Town and accommodation, and a few more great prizes," revealed the pageant director Tlhatlogo Sera Madiba.
Additionally, Miss Hope International Botswana queens also secured themselves scholarships from GIPS in addition to most of the incentives won by Miss Teen Hope queen.
Furthermore, Madiba pointed out that since the queens were trained for funding project proposals, they were expected to do their individual projects during their reigning period and make presentation at International level. Madiba added that Miss Teen Hope International was focused on child abuse while Miss Hope International was based on mentoring and tutoring junior secondary students. Hope pageants is a Christian based pageant targeting young ladies from four years to 27 years of age. This year due to COVID-19 challenges, Madiba said they focused on girls aged between 13 and 27 years and took them through the Hope Journey.