With Miss Botswana organisers having set their eyes on enriching the beauty industry, through the new initiative, the top 10 finalists from this year's pageantry have been chosen as ambassadors following the organisation's alliance with BW Mindset Change.
The two parties came together and established an arrangement called Ambassadors for Social Change. During the launch of the partnership this week, Kaene Disepo, the youth engagement leader, stated that the initiative is one of its kind aimed at catering for only the top 10 finalists for this year's Miss Botswana pageantry. “With the mindset change, we think different and I have great pride to say that we saw it fit to start a flagship programme called Ambassadors for Social Change with our top 10 finalists,” Disepo said. The youth engagement leader indicated that the initiative is propelled by their agenda to equip the youth with leadership credentials so that they may be able to influence their communities for the better as some of them have people that look up to them. Disepo also said because of the set up, the top 10 finalists were chosen as a strategy to keep their community projects alive as they are pivotal in shaping a community, which is what they are after. “The Ambassadors for Social Change stands as proof that collaboration can work, so we want every finalist of ours to continue with their community projects so that they do not die at the podium rather they actually go on,” he said.
He further elaborated that the new initiative will keep their community projects alive by amplifying their voices in their respective communities, providing them resources that will assist in continuing their projects. He added that these areas will be achieved by providing them with knowledge and skills needed for their projects as well as through capacity building. Furthermore, he explained that as the initiative expands, it will tap into other plausible avenues. “This will not only be narrowed to Miss Botswana but for the inaugural year, we chose to stick with the top 10 finalists so it will grow to other streams,” Disepo stated. Meanwhile, he indicated that from the initiative, they are hoping for only three positive outcomes. “Anticipated outcomes for this are fostering leadership and community engagement, promote sustainability and innovation and lastly enhance global marketability,” he said.
For his part, the director of Miss Botswana, Benjamin Raletsatsi, lauded the new strategy defining it as a move that speaks to their values, which is to improve the beauty industry locally. “Today marks the continuation of wanting to change how people view ourselves and this industry we are in because it is not just about the beautiful women, it’s about a lot of things, which is what this initiative speaks about,” Raletsatsi pointed out.
