BHARGAVA BECOMES THE FIRST EVER MISS GLOBAL BOTSWANA

A19-year-old Motswana girl from Francistown, Sakshi Bhargava, was this past weekend launched as the first ever Miss Global Botswana queen. She will represent Botswana in Bali, Indonesia in November, 2021.

The founder of Diamond Pageantry Academy, Nicole Gaelebale said she met Bhargava five years ago around the same time she thought about starting her academy. She also said as a judge for Junior Miss Botswana 2016, she was impressed by Bhargava despite the fact that she did not win the contest.

“I was looking for brand ambassadors and then my mother reminded me about her and that’s when everything started. I invited her for a photo shoot and we were both nervous.

She was willing to learn and every year she touches lives of so many people,” she revealed.

Gaelebale said the in past five years Bhargava wanted to participate in various pageants but the latter could not because she was still struggling to find her place. She revealed that

Bhargava was also battling her citizenship issues which she eventually overcame.

Gaelebale said Bhargava wanted to showcase what she had been learning at Diamond Pageantry and she will finally get that chance. Gaelebale, who was Miss Botswana 2018, said she sees a lot of herself in Bhargava. For her part, the teenage beauty queen, Bhargava, said she is a Kalanga girl from Francistown and had been living there her entire life.

Bhargava, who is of Indian descent, said from a young age she fell in love with Setswana culture because she would hear people around her speak Setswana. “I was always interested in knowing what everything meant so today I can proudly say I understand and speak Setswana,” she proudly revealed.

Additionally,

Bhargava said Batswana have always been supportive of her from a very young age and she will always be grateful. She said even though beauty pageants have stereotypes, she is one of those pageant girls who have found the true meaning and purpose of what pageantry is.

She said as the founder of a charity organisation called Able House Foundation, she has realised that pageantry gives them a platform to make the world a better place.

“It started as a pageantry project and it was something I never saw happening. It is meant to create equality for people with disabilities,” she added. She said growing up, she saw people making fun of people living with disabilities therefore she founded Able House so that she could be a voice for the voiceless. I advocate for people living with disabilities and I have been their voice for the past four years,” she revealed.

Bhargava said being given the opportunity to represent Botswana is something she always dreamt of. She said she will do her best to make Botswana proud and hopefully get the country’s first Miss Global crown.

Before becoming Miss Global Botswana queen, Bhargava was Junior Miss Botswana second princess in 2016 and Miss Teen Hope Botswana first princess 2017. Miss Global Organization, LLC was founded by Van M. Pham in 2011. Miss Global is about empowering women, giving them a voice to speak up in making a difference. It is about

embracing cultures, accepting differences, celebrating diversity and understanding that is what makes people special and unique.