Lurnay Tshabalala-Mavuso | Senior Reporter | Community & Youth | September 2024
Founders, Nkosikhona Emmanuel Matshomo (CEO) and Christianity Msithini (COO), have raised the flag of change way up high as they have hosted their second Annual Sash Ceremony for the Mr & Miss Ore Incarnate South Africa pageant, as they were crowning their finalists with sashes on Sunday the 15th of September at The Lounge in Kwa-Thema, a township in Springs, Ekurhuleni. As community leaders and youth mentors, both Matshomo and Msithini are always looking forward to taking the next step in empowering and educating a boy and girl child and changing their lives too through pageantry, which is not just about beauty but about youth empowerment, community leadership and future leadership.
Mr and Miss Ore Incarnate South Africa, focuses on youth empowerment through programs that consist of workshops on variety of skills development, character building as well as model training. It also offers mentorship and entrepreneurship support. Mr and Miss Ore Incarnate South Africa has the objective to equip the youth with skills that will empower them through all walks of life, and help them grow their confidence and knowledge through political education. Their focus is giving the youth, career guidance, leadership skills, model training, team building education and teach them how to take an active part in community projects.
"Mr and Miss Ore Incarnate SA started in 2021. It was led by looking through the needs of young people. So it became all about giving young people a home and a safe space, while helping them tackle challenges that they face on a daily basis like, anxiety and depression, teenage pregnancy and drug and alcohol abuse", says Msithini who is the COO and Co-Founder of Mr and Mr Ore Incarnate SA.
Msithini further added that the purpose of a hosting this Sash Ceremony is to, earn the trust of the parents of the contestants and the community at large. "Crowning the finalist in front of their parents is an honor and assures them that we really mean business with the work that we do", he said.
Msithini further told Tsakane Informer that he has faced a lot of discrimination from people, especially considering that he is a cis-heterosexual man who is a pageantry trainer, who trains female contestants and male contestants on modelling. He was criticised but that did not stop him from doing what he loves and enjoys doing, which is working with young people and empowering them through pageantry. He also told Tsakane Informer that, he would love to see more boys doing pageantry and also see lives of young men change in the most impactful, empowering and inspiring ways. He believes that a boy child can do so much and can learn so much from pageantry.
"I feel very happy to get the support and recognition from the parents of the finalists and the community, as we are trying to empower young people and would also like to work on getting more young male contestants into pageantry so that we can teach them how to channel their masculinity in the right way and how to be better men in the community", says Ore Incarnate SA CEO, Nkosikhona Matshomo.
Tsakane Informer also spoke to two of the finalists, Khanyisile Ngwenya and Sifiso Fabian Bojabotsheha and this what they had to say :
"I feel that this pageant will not only make me feel extraordinary but it will empower me. To make it to this point makes me feel very honoured and it makes me feel like I have the potential to lead South Africa one day. Pageantry means giving hope to the next black child, and to teach them that this is not just about beauty but it is about empowerment.", said Ngwenya.
"I feel so honoured and blessed, because entering this competition led me to building a new family as I have found sisters and brothers through this. As a male contestant, I feel like I am not just a model but I am a voice to the voiceless males and I am using this platform to help empower and shift paradigm while affirming a young man that, you can be so much more than just a handsome face. This is all about self-confidence and with confidence you can achieve anything.", said Sifiso.
The Mr & Miss Ore Incarnate South Africa Pageant serves to be a safe haven for all young people who seek to find their feet within the lines of existence in a world that has so much to give, but has little hope for achievement. The OISA organization seeks to help and equip the young and smart minds with the skills and knowledge necessary to make change in their community, the country and the world at large. You may reach them via their social media platforms :
Tiktok : ore_incarnatesa , Facebook : Mr & Miss Ore Incarnate SA , Instagram : ore_incarnate_pageant
TSAKANE INFORMER
mytsakaneinformer@gmail.com