At the age of 14, Clearence Gole Thagwana from Ngovhela Maembeni outside Thohoyandou is still only a teenager himself, but the boy is burning with the desire to help fellow teenagers avoid the blight of teenage pregnancy that is taking over their lives.
Clearence is a Grade-10 learner at Mbilwi Secondary School. He does part-time modelling and already has a few titles under his belt. The lad is now also taking on the part of role model among his peers as he takes a stand against matters that have a great effect on the youth today.
When Limpopo Mirror asked him what had sparked this passion to bring the topic of teenage pregnancy into the spotlight and address it full-on, he said that he had observed with sadness over time how many teenagers fell pregnant unnecessarily because of boredom and a lack of knowledge. He has therefore come up with the bright idea to launch an awareness campaign focussed on teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence, in the form of a beauty pageant called the Miss Exclusive Ngovhela.
The contest was supposed to have been staged on 26 February this year but was postponed indefinitely because of financial constraints. The young boy has not given up hope, however, choosing to believe that Good Samaritans will hear about his plight and help to make his dream become a reality.
"I am a hardworking model who is dedicated to my work. I am also an observant community activist, and I have seen beautiful young girls in my community fall pregnant and lose focus on their schoolwork. They end up being school dropouts and their future gets compromised. Something must be done to stop this, and this is where the idea of the beauty pageant comes into the picture," he said.
"The purpose of the pageant is to try in one way or another to keep young girls off the streets and offer information-sharing sessions to educate them on staying away from teenage sex that leads to pregnancy. We will also talk about gender-based violence which has become a monster that is killing so many women, and children are also being abused on a daily basis. We cannot keep quiet and act as if nothing is happening. I am calling upon everyone who cares about the future of the girl child and women to come on board, so that we can host this pageant," he said.
Clearence can be contacted directly on 072 058 5396.