Elvenes takes Botswana to the outside world

Baboki Kayawe
Staff Writer | Wednesday April 13, 2011 00:00

 

The beauty of being a daughter of two continents she says is the immense support she gets from both ends especially on 26 June last year when she walked away with the Miss Universe Norway 2010 title. Melinda Elvenes had a historic win as a first Norwegian woman of African origin to walk away with the title. Describing this moment, which opened greater thing in her life, Melinda says her double identity worked wonders for her.

'Though I feel in the middle of the two races, I can say the biggest advantage is getting support from two countries,' says Melinda.  This victory, which happens to be her middle name made her more confident in life and made the black community in Norway very proud.

Botswana-born Melinda strongly believes the country has so much untapped potential in the tourism sector, which she dedicated to take out to the world at large.

Most importantly, she says the  high-value, low-volume strategy has to be taken into account. 'When I tell people I am half Motswana, they ask me where Botswana is?' she says.  The young woman who holds a BA in Development Studies says she is indebted to this nation such that she is embarking in the process of having a hand in promoting the vast fauna and flora that the world knows little of.

 Not yet at the final stage of her plan, Melinda is hoping the Botswana Tourism Organisation will buy her dream of taking this immense beauty to the world.   'I want the world to get to know this beautiful country. Not everyone will have the opportunity to experience it, but at least open their eyes to this African gemstone,' she says.

The African sunshine gives her positive energy and inspiration. Another cause on the cards is working with vulnerable children and women in order to help them through the heartaches and torture that life has seen them through.  She says this is something she has always wanted, perhaps influenced by the work her mothers' friend used to do with women who had survived rape. 

Melinda was born in 1986 in Maun, and left for Norway at the age of 12. Her father is Norwegian while her mother is a Motswana. Melinda loves to dance for it has always been a way of expressing herself to the world.  She says dancing is something she has been doing since she was young.

'It is a unique voice through which I express myself,' she says. She also does modelling, which she is very passionate about.

Having modelled in Oslo, Melinda is now in New York where she hopes to take her modelling dreams to greater heights. She says attending the New York Fashion Week was her major breakthrough, though she is yet to make it on the covers of reputable fashion magazines - she made useful contacts.

'It takes time to make it on the New York modelling front, but I am positive I am going to make it,' Melinda says. On the crisis that envelopes Africa, Melinda says part of the reason why leaders here are clinging into power forever is that they are not used to the system of ruling because chieftaincy has always been a central way of rule. She is a great fan of former South Africa President Nelson Mandela for the simple reason that he fought for change. 'This shows that change is achievable if people are hungry for it,' she says.