In Botswana, the international successes of models and beauty queens such as Mpule Kwelagobe, Kaone Kario and Emma Wareus, continues to fuel the dreams of many young women. Furthermore, event organisers and promoters also seem to have jumped on the beauty pageant bandwagon, with a spate of pageants from Miss Independence to Miss Tertiary Schools cropping up. But how many people really know what it takes to eventually win the coveted crown? Recently, Arts & Culture sat in on the auditions for Miss Universe Botswana, one of the more prestigious titles.
The determination of the girls showed itself from the start: by 10am, the organisers, Mos Syd Entertainment, were on a break after registering and auditioning 12 girls. Despite the biting cold that Saturday morning, aspiring models had descended on the Gaborone International Convention Centre where the auditions were held. Some girls illustrated the truism of "suffering in beauty" in their killer-heels and their short dresses. Out of the close to 30 potential participants that were there, only one had a natural hairstyle, opting for short half-formed dreadlocks, while her peers mostly wore hair extensions or weaves.
