Learning from the best

Mrs Botswana and Australia groom Mr &Mrs Botswana Primary Schools contestants

Beautiful reigning queens, Mrs Botswana Portiah Mokgathong and the recently crowned Mrs Australia, Yeukai Tshwanelo have shared insights of the beauty journey with contestants and title holders at Little Mr and Miss Botswana Primary Schools.

Mrs Australia 2024, who is on an official visit to Botswana says children are a gift from God and grooming them at a young age is crucial for their development and career choices.

Her story is an interesting one, she originates from Zimbabwe and migrated to Australia in 2003 to study. Like many beauty queens, she started pageantry when she was a young girl and has always won.

This she said built her confidence to excel both academically and in pageantry through the guidance and support of her mother. She encourages parents to be part of their children’s dreams to enable them to reach greater heights.

“Winning Mrs Australia is the biggest celebration of all the titles that I have won in pageantry and it was all driven by tenacity, vision, confidence and being focused,” she said, further encouraging the little queens to keep soaring.

She is happy to be in Botswana and imparting her skills to the little ones as Botswana is also her home by marriage. “Children should be allowed to sparkle and shine and I am encouraging them never to let anyone put them down. They should also take the school work serious and bear in mind that pageantry opens entrepreneurial opportunities,” she said.

Tshwanelo further emphasised that she was happy to be addressing children and women just right on Women’s Day celebrations because she is passionate about women empowerment.

The beautiful local queen, Mokgathong also encouraged women to be part of their children’s career choice. She encouraged them to genuinely find out if their children are doing what they really want to do.

“Some parents want to live their past through their children and this is wrong,” she said. She also taught the little queens about the do’s and don’ts of pageantry. Mokgathong urged parents to find professional help for their children’s pageantry etiquette to ensure that they do everything correctly and become ready for international stage at a young age.

“Parents should also find out if children are comfortable with the type of pageant they are in because pageants are different. They should also be taught to be confident and have stage presence, as well as practice speech, have eye contact, and be ready to ace public speaking,“she said.

She also mentioned that projects are an intergral part of a pageantry and so parents should not wait until the last minute to choose a project for their children.

She also emphasized that pageantry is expensive and so they should be strategic in terms of looking for sponsors and be ready to give back to the community.