Queen Esther pageant marches on
Spira Tlhankane | Thursday August 25, 2016 14:43
The pageant, which admits girls from 15 to 25 years, started in 2010 and has already crowned five queens thus far and this year’s queen will win a scholarship for a degree programme in the US.
During a press brief recently, the founding director of the beauty pageant, Vehae Tjiriange said it has been a beautiful journey since 2010. “Queen Esther has grown and it was birthed from the book of Esther in the Bible, where Esther was crowned queen,” she said. She said as a Christian, the book of Esther was her inspiration. “The pageant is now a platform for Christian women to contest where they are not required to undress in public,” she highlighted.
Tjiriange said the pageant aims to promote complete and total abstinence from substance abuse, alcohol and premarital sex.
“The pageant is a celebration and the ultimate expression of true beauty, intelligence and integrity,” she said. For her part the patron of Queen Esther, Bonolo Odirile said they believe in catching them while still young. She said since they encouraged total abstinence they had to make sure that all the 10 finalists are virgins. She said they only hosted auditions in Gaborone and Francistown because they are highly populated. Our contestants are all born again and they were recommended by their local pastor,” she said.
Odirile said they do not judge based on beauty only because they believe ‘we are fearfully and wonderfully made in the eyes of God’. “We are looking at Christian values,” she said.
After crowning the queen, Odirile said they will embark on a community outreach about abstinence. According to Odirile, the inaugural queen Michel Marumo has used the platform to reach out to other young people across the nation with a message of academic excellence and integrity. The 2012/13 queens Lesego Chombo won a scholarship to study at Okavango International School English medium.
The owner of Tlhago Lodge in Tlokweng Pelonomi Lesedi advised the girls to read the book of Esther. She told the young contestants to have limits as ladies. “A woman is not supposed to be naked in front of anyone,” she said. Lesedi encouraged the 10 finalists to be wise and intelligent. “Drive businesses, think ahead and be visionary,” she said.
The pageant has been held in Maun for the past four years and it will now return to Gaborone this year. There will also be a lead girl networking conference to train the contestants on leadership skills among others.