As is the custom here when a guest is invited to speak to a group, the host group often writes the remarks for them to say. Seems that this wouldn't work in America very well. Imagine the South Carolina Republicans inviting Obama to speak and writing his speech for him. Oh well, it does work here.
Here is the text of the remarks that I wrote for Miss Botswana to give on Saturday at the teen event. She gave it in segments, first in Setswana then in English.
Dumela boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen. As you may know, my name is Sumaiyer Marope and I am the reigning Miss Botswana for 2009 -- 2010. I was crowned in May of this year and will reign for nine more months while I am finishing my second year of university training.
It was only a short time ago that I was in the audience and attended street bashes like this one with a dream in my heart, but never knowing if it could really come true for me. With a lot of hard work, it has come true for me. But today I want to talk more about your dreams than mine.
Hold onto your dreams -- they are the things that give our life direction. They cheer us up and keep us going when times are difficult.
Many things can keep us apart from our dreams -- illness, accidents, or circumstances of life. The biggest thing that gets in the way however, is ourselves. It is when we do not think clearly about the decisions that we have to make. It is when we fool ourselves and put ourselves in risky situations. It is when we pretend that we can play with fire and not get burned.
Some people think that luck has a lot to do with how life goes. Isn’t she lucky that she got to be Miss Botswana? Isn’t he lucky that he got the best grade in class? Isn’t that family lucky to have a car or a nice house? Luck has nothing to do with it. It is about persistence and hard work. It is not about what happens to you that matters in life, it is about what we do when problems arise and decisions must be made. It is about the choices we make and how we handle the challenges, the setbacks and the times that we trip and fall. Do I stay down on the ground and say “You stupid person for making a mistake” and “What bad luck for me.” Or do I stand up, brush off the dirt and say “I will learn from that and make tomorrow a better day. “
Yesterday is past and we cannot change it. Tomorrow will come soon enough. We are the only ones who control Today and decide if Today will be a day that we will be proud of. Every day we are either getting closer to our dreams or we are getting farther away from them. We can’t stand still. Which will it be today?
Stay focused
Stay in school
Stay healthy
And never, never, never give up
I particularly want to emphasize staying healthy. We all know that we live in world that has risks of STI’s, HIV/AIDS, early teen pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse just to name a few. Today you will see and hear many messages about how to stay safe.
Today I challenge you to ask yourself a few questions that I hope you will think about.
What are you doing with these words and messages? It is far too easy to let them go in one ear and quickly go out the other as we sing, dance, and pretend that these problems and illnesses are things that happen to other people but will never happen to us. Will I make these messages a part of my life?
Am I ready for sex?
All of us will have to answer that question differently and perhaps differently at different times in our lives. If the answer is “No” then what is my plan if a partner wants to push me to start before I am ready? Will I stand up for myself and my dreams and say “No, not yet, I am not ready.”
When I do feel ready to begin having sex, will I do it for the right reason? -- Because I am committed to one partner for the rest of my life. Or will I do it because I was pressured by my partner, because I am being offered a gift or because I feel my peers are saying I need to?
When I begin being sexual, will I insist on using a condom the first time and every time because I am going somewhere with my life and I cannot afford to be sick. I have plans and dreams that I will not give up for a risky overnight quick experience.
Am I willing to give up my dreams and risk getting sick or falling pregnant for a cheap cell phone, some new clothes or a few pula?
Will I let alcohol or marijuana decide my future for me? If I drink alcohol today or tonight, will it bring me closer to my dreams or farther away?
When you look in the mirror tonight I ask you to say to yourself “Did I come closer to my dreams today? If the answer is YES, sleep well and congratulate yourself. If the answer is NO, ask why not and what can I do differently tomorrow to make myself proud?
When you wash your face tomorrow morning I ask you to say “Am I going to be a proud Batswana youth today? I am the only one who is in charge of my life. I am going to live today in a way to be proud of who I am.”
I know all of you out there know friends or people in your communities, in your schools, in your families who are not acting in ways to make their dreams come true. Stop for a minute and think of the people you know who are not being hard-working. Be honest--- I think you know who those people are.
We all want friends, but are they good friends? Are my friends helping me to be a better person, or are they ones who drag me down just so they can feel comfortable being stuck in the mud in their world of failure?
It is hard to be honest with others and say “No I won’t drink with you, No I won’t smoke with you, No I won’t have sex with you, No I won’t have sex without a condom. But when we do so, we stand up and say “I am proud of my life. I have dreams and I am going to make them come true. I won’t let you pull me down. You cannot make me give up my dreams. I won’t let you.
There may be some of you in the audience who are not too proud of how you have been living your life. It is never too late to say out loud “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.”
It is not how many times we fall down in life, but it is how many times we get up.
We are proud Batswana youth. We are the leaders of tomorrow.
Our future will be what we make of it. Let’s make it good together and lead Botswana into the future.
Be smart
Be safe
Be faithful
Be honest with yourself
Be proud
Most of all be determined. Never, never, never give up
Vision 2016 calls for no new HIV/AIDS by 2016. We as youth are the window of opportunity. We will win together.
Thank you
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