Epilepsy inspires young woman to join beauty pageant
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday September 1, 2017 14:08
Pule has therefore entered Miss Hope beauty pageant where she hopes to use it as a platform to raise awareness on epilepsy.
“Miss Hope is a Christian based pageant which aims to benefit the youth. Unlike other beauty pageants’ it does not have many restrictions. It does not look at an individual’s body height, size and most features that most beauty pageants usually look at,” she said.
Pule is also studying social work. Even though she wants to use the beauty pageant as the platform to raise awareness on epilepsy, the young woman’s journey to teach people about epilepsy and being an inspiration to epileptic people has started. She vows not stop until the nation is fully informed and aware of epilepsy and how to identify and help epileptic patients during an attack.
She said after being diagnosed with the disorder at a tender age, she decided to research more on it. Pule said being epileptic was one of the factors that inspired her to study social work after realising that there was a huge gap on helping and giving epileptic patients advice on the disorder.
“Epilepsy is one of the common neurological disorder and affects people of all ages. It is characterised by unpredictable seizures and can cause other health problems. It has wide range of seizure types and control varying from person-to-person. Since being epileptic, my intelligence started declining as it affected my brain. I would forget things and that also affected my studies,” she said.
Pule added that growing up, she realised that people misunderstood her. She explained that public perception and misunderstanding of epilepsy caused challenges often worse than the seizures. She said her life as a student was not easy as her peers and some teachers were discriminating against her.
“It hurt to hear people calling you names and laughing behind your back. I would hear some students mocking me saying, ‘mmone ngwanyana yo wa mototwane or bona ngwanyana wa leebana’. Every time that happened, I felt stressed and asked myself me? It made me lose my self-esteem,” she said sadly.
The young woman said she strives to clear the misunderstandings associated with epilepsy. She pointed out that even though she was very keen on hosting presentations on the disorder at different schools and different parts of the country, she could not due to financial constraints.
She however pointed out that she is currently raising awareness at her former school Mosele-wa-Pula Junior Secondary where she is working hand in hand with Guidance and Counselling teachers. She said she also delivered presentations at Baylor Children’s Clinic, Princess Marina Hospital and different spots where she had positive feedback.
“I went to BTV on the quest of spreading the message. I also have FB page Epi Light and website where I raise awareness on epilepsy. I will also host an awareness day on September 7, 2017 at Railpark Mall. I therefore call on different business entities and individuals to sponsor this event as it is of a great course,” she said.
Pule added that she hopes to one day have enough sponsors so that she can have fully flashed Epi-Light NGO that would have specialists and counsellors.
Her mother, Masego Pule expressed her pride on her daughter for standing for epileptic patients. She said even though she was scared after her daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy while at junior school, she became strong and learnt more from her because she was constantly researching and teaching her on the disorder.
“I learnt a lot from her and accepted her condition. I encourage parents to take their children to medical facilities when they fall or show signs of epilepsy. Peo have been able to raise awareness and a lot of people have shown a great interest on the disorder,” she said.
The duo thanked their family and friends for their endless support through difficult times. They also thanked Roman Catholic for donations, Creative Pixels Studios, La’Pearl Botique and Rythol Photography for their support.