A MODEL wants to uplift young girls in the North West villages.
Otshepeng Manyako (25) from Moruleng in Rustenburg plans to uplift young women and teenagers in her village.
She's the founder, chief executive officer, and executive director of Miss Unique and Teen Kgatleng.
Otshepeng said modelling is a safe environment for women and young girls with low self-esteem and low self-confidence to regain self-love.
"It will help keep them stay away from the streets and social ills like crime, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as teenage pregnancy. It will also help them embrace their uniqueness without worrying about what society says."
Otshepeng, based in Joburg, said that Miss Unique and Teen Kgatleng is not just a beauty pageant but is a safe environment for women and girls.
"We want to help eradicate girl-on-girl hate and create a safe environment which promotes women empowerment, collaboration over competition, love and unity among women."
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The former finalist of Miss Township South Africa and Miss Unity South Africa said that she realised how beauty pageants help young women and teenagers stay away from bad things.
Otshepeng is also a mechanical engineering student and the founder of the NPO called Letsogo Le Le Fang Foundation.
She said she created a job for her aunt, Ratanang Manyako (32), as the deputy director and manager of the pageant.
The winner of Teen Queen gets R1 000 and R1 500 for Miss Queen.
