Tshegofatso Naomi Mosiane is an incredible woman, but her story is one of hardship and heartbreak.

Her road has been long but she has proved that there is a light at the end of every dark tunnel. The 36-year-old mother of one is now following a dream she’s had ever since she first saw a Mrs Universe Africa pageant on television. The life events that have brought her to this point, though, are too terrible to truly and fully comprehend.

I was neglected as a child. I remember walking to school barefoot. When other children were going to school I would hide in the bushes, because it felt like I was always a target,” Naomi said with a heavy heart.

Her home, unfortunately, was no safe haven either, and she was forced to endure the very worst that anyone could ever go through – abuse by those meant to protect you.

“As a child I was raped repeatedly for a period of three years by one of the pastors at the church I attended,” Naomi said. “When I went to Grade 5, I moved in with my parents. My dad had a shebeen and when my parents weren’t around, the patrons would take advantage of me. I lost count of how many molested me.

“Because of the damaged the rapists did, I had to undergo seven operations. They said I should forget about having children. I never gave up, I was faithful, and later I was given the option of IVF, which is very expensive. The IVF was successful the first time. Four months into the pregnancy I was told to abort after they had done some tests, as there was a high possibility that I was carrying a child with abnormalities. I refused and the doctor then told me that he would not bring such a child into this world.

At five months I was in two taxi accidents, but we made it. At the hospital they told me that the baby had died. I refused to believe that. I was still standing on my faith.”

When her baby was born, she weighed only 650 grams and was admitted to the ICU. Naomi’s hardships continued when she had a breast cancer scare. She claimed that she was given incorrect medication, which “… completely destroyed my right lung and, in the process, I got tuberculosis. I have recovered, but still function with one lung. I have used my scars to turn my life around and to reach out to others, to cement my identity and restore hope.”

To show her incredible resilience, and prove to others that one can overcome anything, Naomi entered the Mrs Universe Africa 2021 pageant and was recently named one of the semi-finalists.