Women From Botswana

"I wanted to dispel the myth that we as women cannot do what men can."

"I wanted my father to witness my success, especially at the Olympics. He risked being expelled from the church and called names by some people who were against my pursuing of weightlifting."

"The beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people. We are so different but I think in some ways we are similar too."

"Walk through the hallways of life with the curiosity of a child and the courage of a thousand warriors."

"Not only are the baskets of Botswana crucial in traditional rural life and can be traced through Botswana's history, the commercialization of this craft has resulted in a supplementary income for rural families, making the woven basket more valuable than ever."

"Representation is so important for those who never believed that social standards can be vanquished. For the little ones who need to grow up believing that they can take up space and make a difference in the world because they see a reflection of themselves everywhere."

"But I stand here and say dream young child. Dream about life's infinite possibilities. Dream about walking into places you have never set foot, conversing with amazing people you never knew before and daring to give life your best shot."

"Strength doesn't always look like a hardened heart. Strength can be soft, strength can be calm, strength can be compassion and can definitely be vulnerability."

"My reaction, my growth, my discipline, my love, my life is my responsibility."

"We can't always control how life unfolds but we can find our super power in what we can control."

"Make beautiful things, even if no one notices."

"I understand that being Miss Botswana is having a crown but I am part of a bigger organisation. I want to be that person or lady who gets honoured enough to get the crown and be supported by every one of you."

"There are so many different types of flowers, we all grow in numerous different ways and bloom separate from the next. I believe it would be an injustice to hide such beauty from the rest of the world and the next budding flower. And now that I am a part of the world of pageantry, I find myself humbled at the thought of a little girl who looks at me and feels like a fire light up inside her."

"Growing up I never quite fit into any click, I still dont. When I tried making friends in school it always felt like the group of girls I would try to befriend had made a pact or just didn't feel like I made the cut. That is what pageantry used to look like from the outside to me. Like a click of girls that didn't welcome anyone they felt didn't belong into their space. Which is why I want to take this moment to thank every single person who played a role, big and small to the contribution of pushing for inclusion of different representations of beauty in the pageant world."

"Our costumes reflect a part of our heritage and culture that we are so proud of."

"“Stand up and take action. Refuse to be silent."

"Stand up, rise up and push forward for a better Africa. Nobody is going to do this for us. We need to do it for ourselves”."

"“If you don’t have a seat at the table, you will sit on the floor."

"The red flags had always been there. I just needed to have spotted the moment and left."

"Women need education to open them up to the realization that abuse is prevalent and they need to find ways to overcome it."

"Walk out while they still have the chance. They may not have the same opportunity as me."

"They have to look inside themselves and note what they want to do with their lives. If they know this, it will help them be vigilant about their own lives."

"I don't drown in self-pity. That is past now. Now I am the new me, in a wheelchair."

"Culturally, women are not allowed to speak out against their husbands. When they try to talk to them or voice their concerns, men become threatened. They don't really like it. So they take action."

"I looked at my life and said, I can use my story to help women. If I don't tell my story, who else is going to do that?"

"To find myself in that bottomless pit took so much courage to rise."

"I want to see a young girl who is educated and who is proud of themselves enough to say, "I did this" and they don't need any validation from anyone."

"My Goal in Botswana is to see the life of young girl changed, is to see a brave girl who is courageous enough to walk out when they are in situation of violence."

"Gender based violence is for all that is why it is equally imperative to balance the conversations by involving men. Women cannot do it alone, because women do not beat themselves up, they do not kill themselves nor do they rape themselves. The have carried this fight for too long. They have cried, they have marched, they have partitioned, they have danced, they have screamed about the issue of GBV now its time that also you men hold each other accountable and help women fight this monster."

"All these things happen because as a country, as individuals, we have lost the village, we have lost the community, we have lost that thing that used to hold us together, that thing that we call botho or humility. Women- we are slowly losing that thing that is the glue that used to hold us together, but that glue is not holding anymore. Young boys are left in a latch with no role models to look up to. The only way that they learn to express themselves is only to excat force nad be aggressive."

"Innocent lives are being lost, it is entirely up to us, each and every one of us to raise awareness in all ways possible because the future of our kids depend on it."

"The fundamental question that we need to ask ourselves is today, What is that, that women have done to men that is so bad, that men cant forgive? It seems like there is so much rage that men are out for blood, what is the problem? Until we ask ourselves these undesirable tough questions, until we look deep within ourselves as individuals, as women and as men and introspect and allow all these stories that we share with you to be a reminder that no one is immune to violence."

"Our biggest downfall as women is, not reporting cases and/or dropping them when we should be letting the law take its course, this alone works against our fighting spirit for gender equality"

"It's very important that women realize they have great potential they can [reach] without depending on men for everything."

"Being able to open up teaches you so many fundamental values about yourself and also increases your confidence in looking out to the world, facing them and strengthening yourself."

"When you dream of something, you just have to put your mind to it. You will come across several stumbling blocks, but you just have to keep trying until you achieve your goal. Meet Miss Botswana 2009, Rudeboy Necta, 2009."

"“It is important to appreciate that there is value in listening to others’ opinions. Even if you may not agree, they bring the much-needed objectivity to your point of view.”"

"“I find something interesting in my country that Agricultural demonstrators from the Government go to the cattle post, the farms and rural areas to give the cows their bolus but we don't have health care workers who do such health outreaches to immunize babies.”"

"“Ladies and gentlemen let us understand that political will and commitment is just not in signing treaties and attending high level meetings.It is increasing National budget for the health sector. It is in having adolescent and gender responsive policies and programming.”"

"“The two biggest challenges that i face all my life as a young leader has always been my age and gender. Coming from an exclusively patriarchal or masculine society rather l have always been perceived to be a bit of a wrong gender to achieve and reach certain milestones and a bit too young to dream, to be ambitious to be an active agent of change and a catalyst of development.”"

"“Being a humanitarian or an active agent of change is not an activity you will one day outgrow, its also not a job that you can retire or resign from. It is part of who I am, My purpose”."

"“In Africa culture plays a significant role in molding our society because we have a deeply rooted cultural background. We need to to be able to eliminate the good and the bad from our cultural practices and see how we can encourage good practices such as breast feeding and see how we can talk against early child marriages and genitalia mutilation.”"

"“Recommendations are there we already know what needs to be done. What we need is action, action and more action. We need to make sure relevant stakeholders are involved, young people need to be on the forefront.”"

"“To the girl child i want to say you are amazing. The world is really unfair but it owes you absolutely nothing. Every rejection that is thrown at you, use it to build your own strength.” Gogontlejang Phaladi, Powerful women in Botswana , YouTube (25 February 2017). Retrieved 24 November 2021."

"“I value conversations with people who come from a different background from me. There is a lot of humility you learn through listening to others and allowing yourself to be guided by the wisdom of others. This also helped me a lot professionally, personally and socially”. Gogontlejang Phaladi, Gogontlejang Phaladi: Where there is passion, there is an undying spirit of persistence by Nonofo Nkwe."

"“Every child has the right to be educated. Education in Botswana must be compulsory.”"

"“We children have been missing from the picture for more than two decades when talking about issues of HIV/AIDS.”"

"“We cannot wait another 25 years. We need to push for accountability to make sufficient progress in addressing the current government deficit to deliver on the sexual and reproductive health and rights commitments for women.”"

"I don't compete with you, I compete with the voices in me"

"If you're having a season of your life, run through it like you're running through a field of sunflowers"