08 May 2016

In an effort to shape a better future for the girl child, former Earth Beauty Queen Lebopo Bulayani has established a youth oriented programme geared at addressing challenges faced by the girl child.

Ms Bulayani said the idea behind this beauty contest programme, dubbed Miss Independence Kgatleng, was to help the girl child realise how important their future was before they could engage in alcohol and sex.

In an interview, Bulayani said the programme was formed last year with the objectives of, among others, fighting teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse.

She said she was worried by the high numbers of teen mothers whose future  was cut short by teenage pregnancy from which they sometimes never recovered.

She said she once visited the local clinic and was astonished by the high numbers of school going youth who had come for help due to their pregnancy; astonishingly, some of the young girl were carrying a second child, and that encouraged the former beauty queen to step in and assist them.

She said she had realised that if the girl child lacked confidence and was easily carried away by peer pressure, their future was bleak.

Bulayani said through Miss Independence Kgatleng, she together with other stakeholders would like to fight social illnesses and groom a girl child so that she learnt her culture and origins.

She said she wanted the pageant to make a difference in the lives of the young leaders of tomorrow and that through engaging and educating them on life skills, they stood a better chance of survival in their walk of life.

She also wanted to teach the young girls the importance of giving back to others as a way of helping those who were in need in the communities they lived in. 

Bulayani further said she had great plans for the emerging pageant because she wanted it to be a pageant of choice for young girls where they could learn how to be ladies and avoid being misled by trending fashions.

She said fashions made young people believe that it was cool to put on tight or mini clothes for them to be recognised and fit in among their peers. 

“I took it upon myself to bring change and pave way for young girls  to be successful by helping them build their confidence,” she pointed out.

She said they visited different schools around Mochudi and educated students about drugs and alcohol abuse and the importance of staying sober.

Ms Bulayani said Michelle Motshegwe was crowned the queen last year and she had been amazing and she spearheadsed some of the discussions at schools.

She further said they took part in a boot-camp that was organised at Molefi Senior School and went also to Linchwe junior school where they addressed the students on burning issues affecting young people.

She said as their social responsibility, they gave food hampers to one of the needy families in Mochudi and would like to extend the same gesture to others as time went on.

Ms Bulayani said they would further give to two students per school in schools in Mochudi where the beneficiaries would get tracksuits, shoes and schoolbag.

Despite the good work geared at improving the lives of others and helping the girl child secure a better future, the programme was faced with a lot of challenges, the major one being the lack of funding for its administration costs.

Bulayani said most of her activities were funded from her pocket and she could not be able to meet all the needs of the programme; as such, she appealed for sponsors to come on board and help her assist the girl child and the youth at large.

Nevertheless, she said Miss Independence Kgatleng for this year was still on as preparations were on-goingthe venue is Rasesa Lodge at a date to be announced.Six villages have been chosen from where five girls will be picked and a boot camp. ENDS