Race for Miss Earth Botswana begins

All Batswana women interested in entering the Miss Earth Botswana pageant should gear up as the search for the 2009/2010 queen, has started.

Miss Earth Botswana organisers have reserved the month of May to conduct a nation-wide search for the, Botswana Earth Ambassador for the 2009/2010 reign.

This year's auditions are going to cover a number of areas, starting with Kang, Francistown, then Maun, Kasane, and finally Gaborone.

Following the auditions the organisers will host mini-competitions in all audition areas to select finalists, who will then contest for the crown at Maitisong in Gaborone on August 22.

Miss Earth organisers explained that they decided to engage in a nationwide search to make sure that they cover a wide area in the search of the queen, who will compete with other queens from different countries across the globe.

"If we only concentrate on Gaborone, we might leave out other beauties with the potential to bring the trophy to Botswana," she explained.

She further stated that Miss Earth is not just a normal contest, as its queen has a lot of work, mostly in environmental related projects, as the title suggests.

For this year Miss Earth Botswana organisers intend to work with the incoming queen, in selling the beauty of Botswana with the hope of making Botswana, a destination for tourists coming for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by South Africa.

The queen will also take part in the international Miss Earth pageant to be held in Manila, Philippines.

Since the inceptions of Miss Earth Botswana in 2006, Botswana has had a number of representatives at the global pageant.

The list of beauties who hosted Botswana flag up high at the international pageant include Kefilwe Kgosi from Mmadinare, Millecent Olyn from Jwaneng and Nametso Ngwako from Serowe.

Throughout her reign, the outgoing queen Nametso Ngwako, has been involved in numerous environmental education initiatives, with more emphasise on educating the general public about the importance of a cleaner and safer environment.

Other duties of Miss Earth queens include litter picking and tree planting and road safety campaigns, and taking part in the commemoration of environmentally related days such as World Environment Day.

Beauties wishing to enter must be between 18 and 26 years old. Registration has already started and closes on April 30.