A STUNNING 22-year-old Melisa Mamombe (not real name) from Harare had dreams and hopes.
A university student, she is a beauty with brains. She is a patriot and wanted to wear the Miss Zimbabwe crown in service to the nation.
But she is one of the girls who dropped out of the contest at the preliminary stages.
Her reason for dropping out was lack of financial resources.
While organisers might have, over the years, done everything to protect, support and uplift the girl-child, they have overlooked the challenges of some of the aspirants at the preliminary stages of the competition.
According to Mamombe, she managed to pull through in the first stage and was looking forward to the next round of auditions.
But her ‘dream’ disintegrated on being informed that in the second round of auditions, she had to come dressed to impress and should wear makeup done by a professional.
It is at that stage that she quit for she could not afford to engage a professional makeup artiste and get a nice black dress.
For Mamombe to participate in the next round, she had to part with US$20-US$30 for the professional makeup and close to US$50 for a dress and a pair of high heels.
The amounts are huge to some of the girls who wished to participate.
The Patriot Arts caught up with Miss World Zimbabwe Trust spokesperson Tendai Chirau who explained that the pageant was not designed for the ‘elite’ but was an all-inclusive pageant.
“It is important to note that Miss World Zimbabwe is a brand that seeks to promote national interests and values,” Chirau said.
“We do not discriminate, we have girls coming from (outposts like) Gokwe and Masvingo.”
Chirau also confirmed it is the Trust’s responsibility to take care of the models as soon as they succeeded in the auditions.
Auditions include interviews and other rigorous processes meant to find the best candidate to represent the country.
Prior to the introduction of auditions, Miss World Zimbabwe Trust used to conduct provincial competitions across the country in which the winner of each province was selected for the finale.
By introducing the auditions, the Trust improved and increased the chances of any Zimbabwean girl willing to participate in the pageant than to go through a provincial competition which limited the chances of other contestants.
Speaking on the welfare of the models, Chirau said it was the Trust’s responsibility to take care of the needs and requirements of the girls as soon as they entered boot camp.
“We make sure that those who have qualified for the boot camp stay in an all-expenses-paid hotel while other things like dresses and makeup are provided to them,” said Chirau.
Miss Zimbabwe Trust also takes the models to various places of interest in the country and national monuments as well as charity institutions.
In boot camp, models are taught how to perfect the catwalk incorporating the latest techniques, posing, turning, modelling and communication with others and also what to wear and how to apply oneself in different settings.
The Miss Zimbabwe pageant has gone beyond just being an event to an empowerment forum for the girl-child.
Participants of the pageant in the past have had their school fees paid by the trust to improve their fortunes.
This year’s edition will see 16 short-listed finalists contesting at the finale to be held this weekend at Borrowdale Brooke Golf Course.
The crowned queen will represent the nation at the Miss World pageant.
Meanwhile, the 16 finalists who have been to boot camp for the Miss World Zimbabwe were in Kanyemba, a village located on the south bank of the Zambezi River where they interacted with the Doma people.
“Through the assistance of the Trust, which mobilised sanitary pads, the contestants distributed them to the young girls in Kanyemba,” said Chirau.
Running under the theme ‘Celebrating beauty through the eyes of our late icon, Kiki Divaris’, this year’s event is a tribute to the Trust’s late patron Kiki.