Mister Gaborone gets name change
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday October 18, 2019 11:34
The comeback kid comes re-christened Mister Ideal Botswana (MIB).
Pageant’s director, Oratile Phofhedi, said the name-change from Mister Gaborone to Mister Ideal Botswana was necessitated by the fact that got a franchise from Mister Africa International (MAI) to operate under the new name.
He explained that every country taking part in MAI hosts their national pageantries under Mister Ideal. “This year’s ideal is to pick a Botswana representative to represent the country at the MAI.
This pageantry is not only about picking a contestant to represent the country on an international platform but is also a pageant with a purpose. That is why this year we decided to raise cancer awareness.
We have collaborated with Botswana Cancer Association (CAB) and Gaborone Cancer Centre,” he said. He stated that on November 2, 2019 they would be taking part in a stiletto walk in collaboration with CAB at Railpark mall. Phofhedi said they would raise awareness on male prostate and male breast cancers.
He explained that they chose those cancers, more especially male breast cancer because they realised that many people were not aware that men could also get breast cancer.
He said they would be using the contestants to shoot photos, make activations and road shows to inform the public about the challenges men facing regarding the discussed cancers. He added that many people still think that cancer affects old people, the rich community and also think breast cancer only affects women.
He said they aspire to erase that misconception and make the public aware that cancer can affect everyone including young people and males. Speaking of the local male pageantry, he said even though was not popular compared to the female beauty contests, it was getting there bit by bit.
He said every year they were getting new male faces that showed interest in partaking in the beauty pageant. He said the public was also starting to recognise the male pageantries.
“The main challenges that we face are in Botswana is lack of sponsorship which is also understandable because there is so many pageants mushrooming everyday.
With this pageant, at least we have tried giving it a purpose and a very good objective which is raising awareness on issues affecting men,” he said.
He called on the public to assist where they possibly can to make the pageantry a success. He said they can contribute anything be it life skills that they could later use to transform their lives.
The grand finale would be held on November 9, 2019 at National Museum and Monuments Theatre in Gaborone at 8pm. Dress code is red carpet affair and tickets are sold at P250 silver ticket and P350 gold tickets.