29 Aug 2018

Minister of Basic Education and Okavango Member of Parliament Bagalatia Arone has been praised for being the financial backbone of the Miss Okavango pageant.

Miss Okavango pageant is a non-profit making beauty pageant with the goal to promote cultural beauty and community service among Okavango youth and mostly targets unemployed young women aged 16-30 years from Etsha to Gudigwa village.

Speaking in an interview, the pageant organiser, Winnie Motuge said Arone had been the main sponsor and patron of the pageant since its inception in 2017.

“The pageant by the Okavango youth, is intended to preserve their culture, to be involved in community development as well as encouraging and promoting study, research and investigation into their culture,” she said.

Motuge revealed that the first event, which was attended by more than 500 people, was held at the Okavango legislature’s guest house for free.

She said they managed to host a successful pageant in 2017 and had also given the winners their prizes.

Meanwhile, she said the project’s mandate was also to inform the community on issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty eradication, drug abuse and conservation issues. ENDS