Empowering the less privileged

Ms Makgarebe Boipelo Nthoiwa donating sanitary towels

Ms Makgarebe Boipelo Nthoiwa describes herself as a purpose driven woman, a humanitarian at heart, a catalyst for development and a change agent. This is proved to be true, not only because of her words but her humanitarian deeds that she has portrayed by helping orphans and vulnerable children through projects such as Miss Bright Future beauty pageant, Thusa ngwana wa mosetsana and metako. Metako project is an early childhood program which targets kids aged two and half to five years. It basically targets those kids who come from disadvantaged backgrounds as their parents cannot manage to enrol them for day care centres due to financial challenges. Operation Thusa Ngwana wa Mosetsana is a sanitary towel campaign for a girl child. This was started to uplift and empower young women and offer a dignified solution to managing their menstrual cycle followed by provision of sanitary towels.

Ms Makgarebe Nthoiwa is a young woman who has dedicated her life to helping those less fortunate and says the Miss Bright Future pageant, targets orphans and vulnerable children.“I am passionate about social development issues affecting youth, especially the girl child, which I strongly believe form a critical role of my calling assignments. I help these young girls to fulfil their hidden talents and dreams through organising camps, motivational events and offer career guidance for them.” she enthusiastically translates.

Miss Bright Future 2017 finalists

Ms Nthoiwa utters that after realising that orphans and vulnerable children always lack self-confidence due to the challenges they face on their daily lives, she established Miss Bright Future pageant in order to help them boost their confidence.She further states that “The theme for this year’s pageant is YES I CAN, meaning that despite challenges they face,the  sky is the limit, and that Yes their Future is Bright as long as they work hard to achieve their dreams and not let their challenges dim their dreams.”

She is not prone to challenges as she outlines that not having enough resources is the biggest challenge she faces. She further explains that sometimes she gets invitations from different schools, more especially concerning Operation thusa ngwana wa mosetsana.“It hurts to turn these invitations down due to financial constraints. One of the challenges is lacking enough sanitary towels donations to give out to the girls. I rely most on donations to assist our girls.” she adds.

Operation ngwana wa mosetsana donations

She says that as much as they are challenges, what inspires her to go on is the fact that every day she does something that puts a smile on someone’s life and changes children’s lives.“One of my defining moment was a time when our Queen from Miss Bright Future 2016 said YES to her future by being the best overall student in her school, and one student from Metako project became the best student in grade one. I am talking about a child who has never enrolled for preschool but just a simple ordinary Metako project”, she vividly states.

This young lady is of the belief that more needs to be done in raising awareness on issues of sexual abuse, and they should be formation of circle support groups. She further underlines that there should also be provision of free sanitary towels in schools for every girl child so that girls do not miss school because of lack of sanitary pads.

 

Ms Nthoiwa advices thus to her fellow youth “No candle loses its light while lighting another candle. So never stop sharing and helping others because it makes your life more meaningful. You will always face challenges on your road. When you get criticized, do not get upset. Always remember that no stones are thrown on a fruitless tree. It certainly is that you have fruits that attract attention.”

Facts about Boipelo (What she says)
Name three things that people do not know about Boipelo...
*Afraid of Heights
*Cry easily
*I love dancing, bring any type of dance I will show you better

Boipelo’s bucket list
*Own a Foundation that basically addresses issues faced by orphans and vulnerable children
*Open an academy which is specifically aimed at unleashing talents of youth ( performing arts school)
*Continue bringing light to other people 

Three people who inspire Boipelo

*My mother

*Professor Sheila Tlou
*All people who never stop making a difference towards those who cannot do anything forthem in return.

Boipelo’s best childhood memory?
Being given award for the best athlete in 100m

The Trailblazer

                                                                        Natasha Siku

Ms Natasha Siku is one of the young people that have set a mark for themselves, and has proved beyond reasonable doubt that there is no dream too high for reach. Defining herself as ‘a dreamer’ and a ‘go getter’ goes to show that this young lady does not only dream big, but puts in the work to reach her dreams.

Ms Natasha Siku is the owner of the brand ‘Natasha Siku-From Botswana to the world’ and founder of Opportunities without Boarders, a Non-Government organization that creates awareness, and bridges the gap on opportunities available in other countries. She says what provoked her to start such an organization was when she witnessed a lot of people struggling to pursue their dreams because of lack of resources, and recalls also facing the same challenges when she tried to pursue her dreams. 

“It hurts me that people’s dreams are within reach but they have no access to them. Natasha Siku to the world was inspired by the fact that we have limited ourselves so much as Batswana because we think that someone else can do a better job than us. I challenged myself to prove that notion wrong, so I am going out to the world to show that we are capable and are as good as everyone else.” she adds.

                                                       

Natasha Siku to the world in Mexico

The tenacious Natasha states that through her organization they have managed to build a network between the United States and Botswana, and also help four successful tennis players get scholarships to play in American colleges. Ms Siku reveals that the community is in need of their services, but they have a challenge because they only operate online and are not able to help as much people as they want. She adds that if only they had a structure in Botswana, then they could have a huge impact, for now they try to help as much as they can. Her future plans is to continue making a difference in her community by inspiring over a million people and have her organization financially sponsor talent.

Her background was not all simple, but that didn’t stop her to dream, in fact it brought about the tenacity in her to conquer the world. She confesses that when she was growing up she was bothered with the way people from her community were comfortable with living an average life, no one dared to dream big and do great exploits as they only looked out to get jobs and depend on government schemes.
“I didn't come from a rich family so of course finances were the biggest challenge but that had no bearing on where I wanted to go. I realized that this is not the reality that I want and I will not settle for it, that is why I took it upon myself to make the change and pursue something that was completely out of everyone’s comfort zone and comprehension.” she states

She alludes that if she was to be president she’d give people a fair opportunity to own businesses so that there is diversity instead of tying everyone down to their only business hope being by the government thus erasing the entitlement mentality as it has badly affected the nation.
“Instead of giving grants, I would advocate for these businesses to help create jobs and encourage independence. For me that is empowerment, empowerment is not hand outs. Once these jobs are there, I would want people from as early as 16 years old to start working.” she vividly pronounces.

“Every day is an achievement because we get to change someone’s life, achievements are not the big things that have been done but rather the gradual small differences we make in other people’s lives. Every day, someone’s fire to dream is ignited and they strive to improve themselves. The biggest achievement is hearing someone say that we have changed their lives and inspired them to be better, dream bigger and pursue their dreams”, she vivaciously states.
She says what keeps her going is planning ahead, yet taking each day as it comes and not forgetting why she started her organization. She advices thus “You are you and there is no one like you. Go after everything you want and don't come back until you have it. People will always think they know what is best for you but you are the only one who knows what you want. Never ignore that feeling, though scary, pursue it. It will be worth every pain. Do you and focus on getting better every single day.”

Facts about Natasha (What she says)

Three things people do not know about Natasha
*My father is Angolan (deceased)
*I hate walking barefoot (I used that strong word to emphasize how much I dislike it)
*I am a natural athlete, give me any sport and I will excel in it.

Natasha’s bucket list
*To live my best life every single day! 

Three people that inspire Natasha

*My mother- for being my mother who did everything she could for me. There is nothing that keeps me going than knowing that I want to give her what she wants and deserves.
*Aron Anderson -is a man from Sweden who overcame different types of cancer and lost his leg mobility but continued to do what normal people cannot do. He is just an amazing man and if he didn't let cancer and a wheelchair stop him, what can stop me?
*The last is people in general- We are always looking for successful and rich people to inspire us when we have stories right in front of us. The people I meet and interact with everyday inspire me simply because everyone has something unique to offer and there is always something to learn. 

Natasha’s best childhood memory
Being with family, It is hard being so far away from them and I have come to truly appreciate them and the role they have played in my life but other than that, I miss my primary school and junior school days (some of the best days of my life) as well as playing tennis in Notwane and just being a kid on my street.