I was going through our photo album when I saw a photo of my mother in swimwear. I was like, “And then?!” I took the album and asked my mom about that photo. She told me that she participated in a beauty pageant which was held in her hood in the 90s.

I asked her, “What happened and why didn’t you continue with beauty pageants?”

“I had to stop because of lack of funds. Wena tswelela ka gonne o na le support (You can continue cause you have support),” she said.

Those words really touched me. I remember when I entered Miss Kwas-London Pageant I didn’t have a dress. The pageant was just around the corner and I couldn’t get a dress because most of the dresses I borrowed from some of the girls in my Kasi didn’t fit me.

I started panicking and I was getting desperate. I had to borrow a dress from the other town and I was charged R150. My mom made sure that I had that R150 for me to get that dress.

Winning Miss Kwas-London 2017 title wasn’t only about me. It was a mother’s victory. A mother who couldn’t reach her aspirations, but made sure that her child had the opportunity to reach hers.

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