The aspiring doctor who proved to be a beauty with brains is a standard four pupil at Phakalane English Medium School who wants to save people’s lives in future. This young queen told Arts & Culture that she joined Miss Mini Botswana beauty pageant because she wants to help the less privileged members of the community. She added that if she continues winning beauty pageants in future she aspires to take some of the money she wins to build a business that would create jobs for Batswana.
“My main concern is to see young boys and girls from poor families live a better life because I believe that every child must have the right to shelter, good health and education. Winning the crown means a lot to me. I want to be a role model to my peers. The pageant taught me how to build self-confidence, team spirit as well as modeling. It also taught me how to nature my talent. One of the projects that I will be doing during my reign includes helping under privileged families,’ she said.
Manamela explained that she would look for a poor family with either a young boy or girl in need and assist them with school shoes, school bags and groceries as a way of giving back to the community. Furthermore, she pointed out that her journey towards winning the crown was not easy. Luckily, she had a loving mother by her side to guide and advice her through out her journey. Since focusing on her studies and preparing for the pageant was not as easy as she thought, with the help of her mother they managed to draw a schedule balanced the two.
Even though COVID-19 pandemic poses a challenge for many events including preparing for beauty pageants, Manamela did not let it get in her way of winning the crown whilst at the same time adhering to COVID-19 guidelines and protocols. However, the young queen said she plans to keep on studying hard to reach her dream of becoming a doctor. She added that she would continue partaking in beauty pageants and aims to take part in bigger beauty pageants and continue winning in future.
“I wish God can take control and help us heal COVID-19. Lets all stand together and pray for the whole world to be healed. Lets all stand together and pray for the whole world to be healed. Lets continue to practice social distancing, wash our hands with soap and water regularly, sanitize and keep on wearing masks as required. I would also like to thank our pageantry organizer Gaonyadiwe Phuti for her guidance, advice and encouragement,” she added.
For her part, Phuti said Miss Mini Botswana is an annual event that targets girls aging between six to 11 years old. She added that she focuses on girls from different parts of the country. She explained that due to COVID-19 they had two parades. However, they had mini events prior the grand finale. As a way of protecting their contestants and revelers, they allowed only 50 people to the venue. She added that they followed all COVID-19 guidance and protocols. However, Phuti said they faced challenges like cutting some activities and not finding sponsors due to the pandemic.
