28 Feb 2016

Matshidiso Gadifele of D’kar in the Ghanzi District is the new Miss Remote Area Development Programme (RADP).

She was crowned during  the pageant in Gaborone on Saturday.

The runners- up were Letshepang Obiditswe of Mababe in the North West District who obtained position two while Tshiamo Kengwegile from Mokgenene settlement in the Central District obtained position three.

The contest proved to be a hit with city dwellers as the Botho University hall was filled to the brim, with more people coming towards end of the show.

When speaking at the pageant, the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Botlogile Tshireletso, said her vision was to create a pool of talented young women from the remote area communities. 

She said she wanted to prove wrong critics who held views that beauty and talent could only be found in urban centres.

She said her vision was also to set a development agenda using the “power of women” because a woman was back bone of the nation. 

Tshireletso said she wanted to see young women from the remote area communities taking part in prestigious pageants such as Miss Botswana, Miss World or even Miss Universe.

Ambassador Masahiro Onishi of Japan said he was happy that the pageant was a youth gender empowerment initiative that intended to, among others, facilitate talent identification, encourage behavioural  change, especially among youth in remote area settlements by empowering them with life skills to enable them to make informed decisions on issues affecting their lives and also to promote inclusiveness of young women from the different settlements in the mainstream society. 

“I am informed that the highlight of this pageant is that all the 14 contestants have undergone a three-week boot camp in Gaborone to receive training on a variety of self-empowerment areas to not only prepare them for the task ahead, but also to develop them in their individual capacities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government recently donated the grant assistance for the construction of a pre-school in West Hanahai, Ghanzi District, one of the RADP settlements. 

Through this project, the embassy is aiming to contribute to Botswana‘s efforts towards ensuring quality education. ENDS