Beauty pageant winner now champions women’s education

Naa Dedei Botchwey is not your normal beauty pageant winner. In 2020, she entered the Ghana’s Most Beautiful pageant, organised by the Media General Ghana Limited, owners of TV3 in Ghana, with a purpose – and won the top prize.

After this, she decided to carry out her dream of educating and empowering women through a foundation she set up.

In the process, she has enabled several women to study at the Regional Maritime University and, lately, the Metropolitan University. Botchwey spoke to University World News about how to create educational opportunities for women.

UWN: What is your motivation in sponsoring women through tertiary education?

NDB: I have always loved school and education. I did my first poetry performance when I was eight years old at my school’s speech and prize-giving day, and it was a poem about education. Maybe that is what stuck with me.

Along the line, I have also volunteered for several NGOs in education. I take education very seriously myself, and believe strongly in lifelong learning. It hurts to see the huge gap between people who are educated and those who are not, and the difference it makes in a life. So, I will take any opportunity to assist anyone I can with education.

UWN: When did you start this journey?

NDB: The projects I am now known for started in the year 2020 after I won Ghana’s Most Beautiful. But my first education project was in 2010 when I volunteered for a spelling bee organisation.

UWN: How do you pay beneficiaries’ fees?

NDB: The scholarship at Metropolitan University in Accra was 100% catered for by the school. In return, I used my platform to give the school publicity on both digital and traditional channels, publicising the scholarship and supporting other projects by the university.

The scholarship at Regional Maritime University was shared between three partners. The school provided free boarding facilities and 50% discount on the school fees, the office of the Ga Mantse, His Royal Majesty Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II (the king of the Ga people in the capital, Accra), paid the remaining 50% of the fees.

I cover all other expenses including feeding, mentorship, and guidance, as well as other forms of support required for the programme.

UWN: How would you describe yourself?

NDB: I am the first of two children; my family lived together until my dad passed in 2021. It has been my mother, my sister and I since.

Some family members come to visit often. My family is Christian and very supportive. I have been raised, not only by my parents, but by my community of grandparents, aunts and uncles. I have a very closely knit extended family. I love to read. I studied English for my first degree and journalism for my masters degree. I started writing poems at the age of 15. When I was 30 years old, I published them in a collection.

UWN: In addition to sponsoring women to go to school, what do you do for a living?

NDB: I am a communication professional. I started my career in public relations and advertising, and I now work in marketing.

UWN: When and why did you enter the Ghana’s Most Beautiful pageant?

NDB: I have always loved pageantry. Many people called me Miss Ghana when I was growing up, because of how I carried myself and it stayed with me for a long time. My schoolteacher scouted me for my first pageant when I was 12 years old and in junior high school.

After senior high school, I participated in another pageant for young people purposely because I wanted to gain some experience in preparation for Miss Ghana.

But when I was in university, Miss Ghana started losing its reputation and I was starting to focus more on building my communication career.

Some 10 years later, in the year 2020, I started feeling stuck in that same career and needed a sabbatical. Just about that time, I saw the 2020 Ghana’s Most Beautiful advert and remembered that I had not fulfilled my pageant dream. So, I picked up the forms, and the rest is history.

UWN: After you won the pageant, what did you want to do with your life?

NDB: I decided what to do with the pageant fame (if I got it) the moment I thought about joining. I would never leave my career because I am cut out for it. But I would take any opportunity that I got, as far as I could. And, most importantly, I would launch a foundation dedicated to promoting inclusive education so I could support whoever I could with whatever I had. And I did just that.

UWN: Who was the first person you sponsored, and what is she doing now?

NDB: I cannot pinpoint a single person as the first, as I always worked with groups from the beginning. My initial project was mentorship in secondary schools. My second was with a teenage girls’ shelter in 2021.

The shelter houses girls who have been abused, some of them teenage mums, and helps take care of their children as well. I partnered with companies who provided them with water, food and clothing for up to six months initially, but I am still in contact with them and still work with them.

The last we met was in October 2023 when I transported them to the venue of a mentorship event I organised with a partner. That was on the TV3 Ghana premises. They looked well taken care of, and happy; and that made me happy too. We took pictures together. But the last time I sent them food items was in December 2024.

UWN: You also sponsored a Metropolitan University student, who is said to be a street food vendor that you picked. Who is she and what is her story?

NDB: One student is about my age, perhaps a year older. I printed 200 flyers to help create publicity for the Metropolitan University scholarship.

I also circulated the flyer on social media and went on TV and radio to talk about it. I do not remember the exact number who showed up to the interview, but I would say about 20 people.

We shortlisted based on West Africa Senior School Examination (WASSCE) results and transcripts. This student was one of two people who performed exceptionally well in the WASSCE. The results were not perfect as I remember them. But the potential was obvious, and the interview confirmed it.

This student got pregnant after senior high school and was forced to marry the man who got her pregnant. He also did not treat her well, turning her life upside down.

It is a very painful story, but I am happy she did not lose herself completely. The most important thing is that she gave herself another chance. When I was told she was the valedictorian, I was lost for words.

She is truly a champion. The Metropolitan University scholarship targeted young mothers, because that was my partner, and co-founder of the university, Professor Goski Alabi’s passion.

UWN: Why did you sponsor women to go through the Regional Maritime University?

NDB: It was very important to me that my reign would be impactful. My chosen project was inclusive education, but I initially wanted to work with children with dyslexia (that is still in my plans), but a lot of time was spent scouting for partners and sponsors.

This had not yet materialised when Professor Goski suggested the scholarship to me. I fell in love with the scholarship and continued to scout for other opportunities. So, I found out that the chancellor of the Regional Maritime University at the time was open to partner with me on the scholarships, so we started talking.

I initially wanted to sponsor two women, but I had also been talking to the Ga Mantse, who had mentioned putting girls through school. So, I told him about it, and he suggested he support 20. So that is what we did.

UWN: Where are the women now?

NDB: I have not been in touch with all of them. They studied for a certificate in Marine Engine Mechanics, and one of them is currently working in the shipping industry.

We recently spoke about her doing her mandatory courses so she can actually become a marine engine mechanic. But we have had financial restraints. It is a similar case with many of the ladies on the RMU programme.

Part of the programme was to get them internships, so they had hands-on experience with corporate and marine work. Seventeen out of the 20 got the internships. The mandatory courses were not part of their programmes, but once I found out about it, I tried to get some extra help so those who were interested could pursue it. Unfortunately, that help did not come.

UWN: You are helping other women. Would you say you have achieved your main purpose in life?

NDB: No, I would not say so. This is a small part of the impact I am hoping to make in my lifetime. This is just the beginning.

UWN: What is the big plan that you have for women in Ghana?

NDB: Women everywhere have so much potential. The world is hurting itself by holding women back. We have all seen what women can do, and what they do, [but] we just refuse to acknowledge and promote it.

Preventing women from blooming is preventing humanity, itself, from flourishing. It is like we are constantly working to make the world a better place, but oppressing the one thing that holds the secret to exactly that.

My big plan is simple: open women’s eyes to see the power they hold; and guide them to use it to make their lives better, and the world better. Education and mentorship are the beginning of that.