Seventeen-year-old Jessica Moilwa who hails from Mochudi was this past weekend crowned Miss Teen Africa Botswana 2023 in Gaborone. Moilwa also dabbles as a content creator and photography model.

In an interview with Arts & Culture, the Form 5 student at Gaborone Senior Secondary said she auditioned for the Miss Teen Africa Botswana online at the end of November 2022.

She added that when she won Miss Teen Africa Botswana recently, it felt as if she had won peace, freedom, and stability for the thousands of souls she intends to help during and after her reign. “Preparing for the pageant was not easy because I had to dedicate a lot of time towards winning though I had school to deal with too. I attended rehearsals and worked on improving my walk even at home. But most of my effort was dedicated towards the project as I knew that it was where I could earn more marks. More than any of these, I prayed a lot,” Moilwa said. She said the competition was amazing especially for her being a first-time contestant.

“One of the most important lessons I learnt during the pageant is to never look back on a decision you made for your own personal growth because of another person’s opinion because, from the beginning, I did get a lot of comments about my body and how it was impossible to win looking like I do, but hey look at me now,” she said proudly.

Moilwa further stated that she made friends although it was not easy because most of the time, she felt like an outsider as she could not relate to most of the things they did but in the end, she got along with the girls. She added that they did many activities including the launch where they all met for the first time, the fashion show that was held on April 1, 2023 and also said they had a project presentation as well a photo shoot a weekend prior to the grand finale.

This beauty with brains further explained that she won the best project award, was crowned Miss Teen Africa Botswana 2023, and was beyond honoured by her achievement. Now that she is Miss Teen Africa Botswana 2023, she said the biggest project she would be working on was a poverty eradication project among street vendor women titled “Craft Love” to help make Africa a better place.

“I will definitely be participating in more beauty pageants probably after exams because right now school and my current reign are my main priorities. My biggest supporters are God, my parents who were there every step of the way, my family, and the girls. My advice to my sisters out there is if you want it, go get it,” she stated.