15 Feb 2022

The annual Miss Millennium High Tea gathered Miss Millennium 2022 contestants and fellow women alike in Gaborone on Saturday to empower them with life skills that will help them make informed strategic life choices.

Miss Millennium High Tea is held every year as part of the activities that lead to the pageant finale with the objectives to empower women in average communities and equip contestants with skills and knowledge.

Those who attended the event go an opportunity to get words of wisdom from Member of Parliament for Mogoditshane Tumiso Rakgare who is also the minister of youth empowerment, sport and culture development. His message which was read in his absentia, encouraged women to work together to achieve more as women.

He further noted that when women get together to share and exchange skills and ideas on how best to manage and approach problems they improve the lives of the community for better.

Furthermore, he encouraged them not to quit when faced with life challenges which as a result of motherhood, work, business and family. Rakgare reminded them that it was through platforms such as High Teas that others get to hear how other women encountered the same challenges and how they managed to overcome them.

Success Capital chairperson also a nurse/midwife at Nyangabgwe Referral hospital Kemelo Muzila said women need to be cherished and empowered to enhance their skills. Muzila also attributed her sentiments to the Sustainable Development Goals which encouraged governments to continue empowering women and children saying the success of any country depends on healthy women. She also noted that creating a just and sustainable world and enhancing women’s roles equalled to sustaining families and communities.

Muzila said COVID-19 brought about challenges that affected women as most of them were subjected to Gender Based Violence and mental health. She said initiatives such as these were a step in the right direction as it allowed women to speak up and empower others.

Co-Founder of Men and Boys For Gender Equality Desmond Lunga further noted that as women continue to face challenges most of which were because of men, there was need to open a dialogue to address such issues. He implored Miss Millennium contestants to be agents of change regarding issues affecting women, and challenged them to nurture the boy child equally as the girl child to change the narrative.

Miss Millennium pageant has been in existence for 13 years, attracting women of 40 years and above who compete towards building and improving livelihoods in communities. The host of the pageant, Shima Monageng of Millennium Jazz Restaurant appealed to the youth ministry to ‘take its place and support sustainable lifestyle events like the Miss Millennium pageant.’ Miss Millennium finale will be held on February 26 at Millennium Jazz Restaurant. BOPA Okaile Lo (14/2/2022)