Beauty Queen’s tough walk to fame

16 Jun, 2014 - 07:06 0 Views
Beauty Queen’s tough walk to fame Blessing Chishamiso Mukumene

The Sunday Mail

Blessing Chishamiso Mukumene

Blessing Chishamiso Mukumene

As her name was called out and she strode to the podium – a big smile on her face, teary eyes gleaming in the spotlight – most people in the giant Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) must have dismissed her as some spoiled lucky brat.

But Blessing Chishamiso Mukumene, the Carnival Queen 2014 First Princess, is certainly not a spoiled brat or some lucky model; she has toiled for all her achievements.

This writer remembers meeting a bizarrely dressed Mukumene at a fundraising function for the Youth Cultural Arts Festival in Masvingo last year, where she attended in her capacity as the reigning Miss Masvingo.

She spoke of her dreams, in a lengthy “interview” that never saw the light of the day, as this writer did not trust a single word the weirdly dressed “interviewee” who seemed to be in the company of scammers, uttered.

A few bump-inns that night in Masvingo’s nightclubs “confirmed” this writer’s fears. She must have bought several editions of The Sunday Mail that followed our chat, but alas her story did not see the light of day.

Fast forward several months later and that weirdly dressed model is now elegantly clothed and is being cheered by thousands – part of her unbelievable dream had come true.

With a title that came with US$10 000 plus many other smaller prizes, a guaranteed 12-month allowance as a tourism ambassador and corporate endorsements, one would think for a 22-year-old, “life’s good”.

But for the Kadoma-born beauty, this 26th title of her modelling career is just another stepping stone; a step closer to achieving her real dreams.

Among her many modelling accolades is the Miss Masvingo title, Miss Kadoma, Miss African Heritage Kadoma, Miss Research and Intellectual Expo (for all tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe), Miss Earth Masvingo Province and Miss All Colleges, to name just a few.

“I have a soft spot for children. All I want after I complete my reign would be to start an early childhood development centre and a modelling agency,” said Mukumene.

Mukumene, who has a diploma in education from Morgenster Teachers’ College, started following her passion of working with young children soon after completing her O-Levels.

“While I was waiting for my O-Level results I enrolled for an Early Childhood Development (ECD) certificate.
“That certificate was to come in handy when I was forced to drop out of High School as my mother could not afford to pay the school fees,” she said.

Not even the failure to pay school fees could stop the determined Mukumene. She said: “I wrote my A-Level as a private student at Waverly High School in 2010. In January 2011 I enrolled with Zimbabwe Open University and in May the same year I began my diploma in education at Morgenster Teachers’ College in Masvingo. That’s how I got to be based in Masvingo.”

Mukumene has ambitions to open a modelling agency: “Modeling is very expensive and my mom used to have difficulties in raising funds to promote my modelling career but she never gave up. She was only relieved when Morgenster Teachers’ College started to meet all my expenses from 2011 up to Carnival Queen Zimbabwe 2014.

“I want to ensure that disadvantaged children with the talent and the passion get equal opportunities with their counterparts born into well-to-do families. My dream is to ensure that no one scraps through like I did but that if one has the talent then they just get the necessary support.

She says her experiences in life could be very useful to the kids that will be fortunate enough to pass through her hands.
“Teaching really opened my eyes; I learnt that there are vulnerable children out there who really need help. I could only help a few.
“I decided to use modelling as a platform to reach those who can help and those who need help.

“From the lectures that I got from Morgenster Teachers’ College, I got to realise that what children go through during their Early Childhood Development determines what they become in future. I always say ‘catch them young’”.

“We can make our future Zimbabwe today. This is why I have decided to work with the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in primary schools. I have donated some food and clothes to Alfa cottages and Mutimurefu prisons,” said Mukumene.

She added: “I have also worked with some OVCs at Mutendi Primary school. I founded a programme called Masvingo Has Talent, which is meant to promote talents in OVCs.

“There is a page on Facebook entitled ‘Masvingo Has Talent’ for more information about it.
“Now that I have won Carnival Queen Zimbabwe 1st Princess crown, ‘Masvingo Has Talent’ will concentrate more on cultural diversity.

“I am also going to move around Zimbabwe launching some school clubs. The clubs will be to widen children’s knowledge on Zimbabwean cultures and how best we can promote our cultural diversity.

“Zimbabwe as a nation needs to understand why we value our cultural diversity so that everyone will learn to appreciate our different cultures.”

Mukumene, who turns 23 on the 30th of this month is the second born in a family of four.
She was raised by a single mom, a teacher at Ngezi Primary in Kadoma, the same town where her modelling career began in the year 2000 at St Raphels Primary School.

She did her O-Level at Ngezi Salvation Army High in 2008.

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