By Kristy Siegfried

Gaborone - A beauty pageant that took place in Gaborone at the weekend followed all the usual conventions.

There were the turns on the catwalk, a dance routine and questions from a panel of judges, ending with a crowning and the requisite few tears.

But Saturday's event was a beauty pageant in form only.

It was Miss HIV Stigma Free, and the 12 contestants had made it to the final round not solely for their beauty but also for their bravery.

Botswana's energetic response to the Aids pandemic is often held up as a model to other African countries. In 2002 it became the first country on the continent to offer free anti-retroviral drugs, and currently 32 000 of the estimated 300 000 people in Botswana living with the disease are recipients.

The goal of the pageant, organised by the Centre for Youth and Hope (Ceyoho), an HIV and Aids non-governmental organisation funded by the African Comprehensive HIV and Aids Partnership, is to fight discrimination against people living with the disease.

The centre's director, Kebsego Basha-Mubeli, founded Ceyoho after testing positive and being forced to leave her job because of stigmatisation.

She conceived of the idea for the pageant - first held in 2001 - as a fun way to educate young people about the need to eradicate the stigma.

"Until the issue of stigma is adequately addressed I don't think we can address HIV/Aids," said co-ordinator Robert Letsasi.

Early in the evening, with contestants' appearances interspersed with performances by musicians and dancers, an audience favourite emerged.

With all the charm of a typical beauty queen combined with the energy of a committed activist, 32-year-old Cynthia Leshomo earned the loudest applause for her responses to the judges' questions.

"October 10, 2000, when I was told that I am HIV-positive," was the day my world was turned around, Leshomo said.

"I went through all sorts of emotions - denial, anger, resentment, despair. I never thought that I, beautiful and intelligent, would get the virus."

"For me the virus was for poor, ignorant and uneducated people. But here I am today. HIV knows no boundaries. I am a living example that being HIV-positive is not the end of the world," she said.

"Let us fight HIV/Aids, but not people living with HIV and Aids," Leshomo added.

While two of the contestants made their first public appearance as HIV-positive on Saturday, Leshomo has been speaking out about her status since 2002 and counselling others to do the same.

As queen she will tour the country, offering herself as an example of positive living and talking about the issues affecting people living with HIV and Aids.

Kgalalelo Ntsepe, winner of Miss Stigma Free 2003/2004, knows well the challenges that lie ahead for her successor. Unable to believe that a healthy-looking individual could be harbouring the virus, she was repeatedly called a liar and even accused of being hired by the government.

"You must be brave and passionate," she advised the incoming queen. "And don't come with high expectations of being treated like a celebrity," she added.

Despite Leshomo's dazzling smile, beauty wasn't the main requirement.

Entrants needed only to be between the ages of 18 and 35, to belong to one of Ceyoho's many support groups and to be HIV-positive - and willing to talk about it.

After a first round of interviews, 12 women were chosen to come to Gaborone for the pageant. They arrived from various parts of the country earlier in the week to begin intense preparations.

Tracy Busang travelled 375km from her home village to participate. With long legs that seemed made for the catwalk, she could easily be a contender in a more traditional beauty pageant.

Since testing positive for HIV in 2003, she said, she had never made a secret of her status. In the case of her current boyfriend, who is negative, such openness has not caused her to be shunned.

While living with her sister, though, Busang said she did experience the pain of stigmatisation.

"She wouldn't let her child play with mine," she said. "And after I had a bath she would disinfect it."

Busang, who like eight other contestants is on anti-retrovirals, now lives alone with her three-year-old daughter.

"I wanted to show people that living positively is not the end of life; it's the beginning of a new life," she said.

Miss Botswana, Joby Peacock, was recruited to help the women to choreograph a traditional-dance routine. During three days of rehearsals she also took them through their paces on the catwalk.

On Saturday morning the women did a final run-through in a cramped room at a Gaborone hotel.

Not all the contestants were natural performers, and helping them to master the supermodel strut was a challenge even for the patient Peacock.

"You're not making eye contact, you're not smiling," she said as Matlakala Baaname executed an awkward swivel at the end of an imaginary catwalk and giggled her way back to the other contestants.

Baaname has the generous proportions of a mother-of-four and the shy smile of someone unaccustomed to the limelight.

She said she entered the contest because she wanted to do something to support her friends who are HIV-positive, but her participation is a bold move considering that until now only her family were aware of her status.

By the time she returns to her village, 180km outside Gaborone, many of her neighbours will have seen her in Saturday's event, which was broadcast on national television.

The evening ended with Leshomo circled by photographers and well-wishers, including her mother and sister.

Allowing herself a few tears, Leshomo embraced her doctor. "She made me live," she said.

• This article was originally published on page 7 of The Star on February 28, 2005

Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-02-28 06:37:00