… as she is set for Miss World pageant
Lifestyle Reporter
The country’s President has been inaugurated. Lawmakers have been sworn in.
Mayors and chairpersons have been elected for urban and rural local authorities respectively.
Now is the time for the country’s beauty queen. The wait is over as tonight all roads lead to Orchids Garden in Domboshava for the Miss World Zimbabwe beauty pageant.
It is a fact that the winner tonight will represent the country at Miss World grand finale which will be held in Sanya, China on December 8, 2018.
This year’s local pageant has 14 bevy of beauties who are set to battle it out on the ramp tonight. The winner of tonight’s pageant will compete with girls from more than 120 countries with some already having confirmed their participation at this year’s edition of Miss World according to the global pageant website.
“About 120 countries are expected to compete for the title of Miss World 2018. This year, Iraq will be making its debut at Miss World pageant, while countries like Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, DR Congo, Haiti, Latvia, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Sierra Leone, Uganda and US Virgin Islands will be returning to the pageant. So far 59 delegates have been confirmed,” read information on the website.
Well, Zimbabwe is left with only two months to register for the world pageant before the boot-camp set for November 8.
The local organisers are confident that their girls have what it takes to compete at the oldest beauty pageant in the world arguing that they have gone under thorough training on grooming, deportment and that they are beauty with brains.
This year’s edition is running under the theme, ‘‘Embracing a Woman a Symbol of Beauty’’, with organisers saying they had chosen a ‘‘super’’ theme, which entails that women are important and their beauty is an added advantage that can develop the country’s tourism.
Local designers are also set to showcase their garments as they will dress the models tonight. Parents need to know and understand that pageants promote self-confidence, leadership, poise, and strong public speaking skills just to name a few benefits.
Being crowned a queen in a local community is an opportunity for a young woman to be a role model to her community and most importantly to young girls and women who seek to increase their self-confidence and public speaking skills.
These are all characteristics that will serve her will in her future. Again pageants give all of the contestants a chance to learn about themselves and to branch out of their comfort zones to better themselves. Have you ever had to give an onstage speech in front of hundreds of people? Ever had to answer a question about your community and how you can better it, with no preparation and make it cohesive and articulate?
Ever since the local pageant has re-branded it has grown, bigger and better.
Back to reality, tonight the event is a red carpet affair – a black tie event and the stage has been set. Earlier, last week speaking at the sashing ceremony, Miss Zimbabwe Trust administrator Christine Matambo, said all was set for the finale and assured the guests that the girls are ready and in safe hands.
“May I also take this opportunity to once again make it clear that our job here at the Miss Zimbabwe Trust is to nurture the girl child into this fine, polished young woman who can takes brand Zimbabwe to greater heights,” she said.
Matambo took advantage of the sashing ceremony to assert Miss Zimbabwe Trust’s credibility and assure the guests and the country that there was professionalism in the coordination of the prestigious pageant.
“This crop has been good and I know they will not disappoint because they have been well trained. The girls have grown mentally and spiritually during the camp from the way they speak, walk and carry themselves. I assure you that they are now more confident,” she said.
Miss World Zimbabwe spokesperson, Tendai Chirau reiterated that they will not accept or allow any situation or circumstances that will subject these girls to any kind of abuse whatsoever.
“What we want is to help them uncover their talent, which could be their strength, and allow it to blossom. The negative reports that you used to read in the papers, about alleged incidents that happened some time ago is something we do not encourage,” he said.
Chirau said their conduct is driven by discipline, adding that during their boot-camps they do not hesitate to dismiss any girl who exhibit unbecoming behaviour.
Out of the 16 finalists, Miss Zimbabwe Trust dismissed two for indiscipline, thus trimming down the sashed finalists’ number to 14.
“We are not nurturing immoral girls at this pageant but we are raising disciplined models who have the integrity and character to raise the country’s flag high and proudly represent it on the global platform,” Chirau added.
Last year saw Chiedza Mhosva being crowned the winner and she managed to sail through for the semi-finals in the Beauty with a Purpose project category at the Miss World 2017 pageant.
Her project, in which she taught Doma girls in the Zambezi Valley how to make reusable sanitary pads, was included in the top 20 from the 112 projects that went through an adjudication process. She, however, did not make it among the finalists of the Beauty with a Purpose category which included Miss Philippines, Miss India, Miss Indonesia, Miss South Africa and Miss Vietnam. After failing to make it into the top 40 via the Beauty with a Purpose project category, Chiedza’s other option was through the head-to-head challenge which was dependent on social media votes.
Miss Zimbabwe 2017 was in Group 18 along with Arual Longar (Miss World South Sudan 2017), Maria Elisabeth Tulián Marín (Miss World Spain 2017), Do My Linh (Miss World Vietnam 2017) and Hannah Elizabeth Williams (Miss World Wales 2017. She didn’t accumulate enough votes to proceed to the next level resulting in Miss World Vietnam 2017 Do My Linh winning that automatic ticket from Group 18.
The Miss World pageant has changed over the years from being a bikini contest to being the first and only major international beauty pageant to get rid of the Swimsuit segment.
Miss World pageant was first organised by Eric Morley in 1951 as a bikini contest at Festival of Britain with Kerstin “Kiki” Hakansson of Sweden becoming the first ever Miss World winner.