Ms. African Queen Intl pageant raises funds for battered women
It is a pageant with a different concept and it centers on the African identity. The proceeds will go to help battered women and children and the contestants will portray women of African descent that have made a mark in society. Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
For many beauty is only skin-deep, and this Saturday night at the Bliss, seven stunning women of African descent will take to the stage and show off their self-confidence and poise as they compete to capture the title of Ms. African Queen International. The competition intends to bolster the esteem and awareness of the African identity. Representatives from the Concerned Belizean Women’s Group, Karen Vernon, says the pageant is innovative and focuses on helping women and children.
Karen Vernon, Rep., Concerned Belizean Women Group
“It’s a group put together to help awareness and help to raise funds for battered women and sexually exploited children. We have this pageant planned also as a part of Black History Month. We wanted to give back to the community, especially women and children. We also want to mentor and do workshops for young girls and teach them things like etiquette, how to apply for a job, and talk one on one with young women and mentor them and get them ready for society.”
Duane Moody
“So these women that are going up for this pageant are basically role models—you expect them to be role models for other women?”
Karen Vernon
“Yes, we hope that that will happen.”
Birdy Francis, Coach, African Queen International Pageant
“We want our young people and our young adults and women, children and everybody that’s of African descent to be proud of their culture, so we want to celebrate African history month and we feel like why not a queen? You know, that’s royalty so we want people to feel like they’re royal and we want them to feel like it’s good to be of African descent, it’s not something to be embarrassed about.”
It is the first of its kind and pageant coach, Birdy Francis is more than enthused to prepare the Belizean-African women for the competition. Francis says there are three categories.
Birdy Francis
“They can expect a wonderful evening of entertainment. The contestants will come out first in an opening production where they will be dancing. They’ll do an African dance and then they will share information that they have gathered in the past few months about different African countries. So they will share that with the audience. Second, they are going to come out with their talent and talent is part images. The images will portray women of African descent—past and present—famous women. They’ll come out again in the visual poise segment which is like the evening gown. It’s a comparison to the evening gown segment; they’ll be wearing full regalia with the head dress African clothing, sponsored by Miss Mercy and she’s from Ghana. After that they come out in the platform statement. In the platform statement they will answer the question in a hundred words or less “why they are proud to be Belizean women of African descent”. We want to give these young women a platform to display their creativity along with an opportunity to gain individual recognition.”
The seven delegates who will vie for the title are Sharin Pitts, Sherry Valerio, Lurleen Betson-Gamboa, Avil Steadman, Dorla Vaughn, Sherette Staine and Adele Ramos. And according to them, the event will be fun filled.
Sherette Staine, Delegate, African Queen Intl Pageant
“What they can expect is a lot of fun, excitement, drama and a lot of—just to have fun.”
Duane Moody
“Your talent, could you give a sneak peek as to what it’s going to be about.”
Sherette Staine
“Well, I cant give you everything now. I will be portraying Rosa Parks.”
Duane Moody
“Who is Rosa Parks for those who do not know who she is?”
Sherette Staine
“She is the one who started the civil rights movement. I don’t want to give away a lot so you have to come and see for yourself.”
Lurleen Betson-Gamboa, Delegate, African Queen Intl Pageant
“For me, showcasing that I am a Belizean of African descent, it gives me a sense of pride because Africans and people of African descent are known for strength and being royal and to me it’s important for us to educate the public in terms of what African descent really means because many times people would say that whenever you think of Africans you think of people with really dark skin color when in reality we are all from the same root, that being Africa, just that we tend to migrate to different areas and thus the reason of the different shades in our skin.”
Duane Moody
“What can they expect from you talent, from you, from the whole night?”
Lurleen Betson-Gamboa
“Well, basically, they need to tighten up and expect a whole lot because for myself, I’ll be portraying Maya Angelou. As many know, she’s a very famous poet and she’s also a writer. But what many people don’t know is that she’s also a dancer. She expresses herself through dance. She’s well known again for the poem Phenomenal Woman and for many the most recent one going around, the Hater. So she’s well known and being able to portray someone of that caliber is an honour for me.”
The funds generated from the pageant will be donated to Mary’s Open Doors in Cayo which is a shelter for battered women. Duane Moody, reporting for News Five.
The event starts at seventy-thirty this coming Saturday. Tickets are available at the Bliss Box Office. Entrance for reserve is twenty dollars adults and ten dollars for kids. And for general admission it is fifteen and five dollars respectively.
