The Sunday Mail
Garikai Mazara
Sixteen girls take to the ramp on Saturday when the country’s most prestigious pageant, Miss Zimbabwe, makes a return after a three-year absence.The finals, which will be a black-tie event, will be held at Mabvazuva Village (formerly Coronation Park) which is just behind the Econet headquarters in Harare’s Msasa industrial area. The show will be attended by invited guests only, one cannot just pay and walk in. This is a departure from previous Miss Zimbabwe pageants, usually held at the Harare International Conference Centre, where the events were open to the public.
Explaining the invitation-only stance, Mary Chiwenga, the chairperson of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust, said the previous arrangement where the event was open to the public usually demeaned the stature of the finals as rowdy characters within the crowd used to hurl insults at the girls.
“Recently we held a fund-raising dinner dance for Musha Mukadzi Zimbabwe Armed Forces Foundation using the ‘by-invite only’ format and it was fully subscribed. And if we get the same kind of response on Saturday, which I am sure we will, then we would have succeeded not only in bringing back Miss Zimbabwe but adding some bit of class to it.
These girls, being potential ambassadors for Miss Zimbabwe, deserve all the respect that the nation can accord them and we are not stopping in any way to ensure that they get all that respect and more,” she said.
Another deviation from the previous Miss Zimbabwe finals is that the prizes for the three girls who are going to come out tops have already been secured.
“As we said earlier on, the winning girl is going to get a Chevrolet Cruze and her two runners-up are getting Chevrolet Spark Lite each. Plus cash prizes, which we are still working out as more sponsorship is still coming in. There are numerous hampers as well, even for the other girls.”
“We have secured the prizes well in advance so that after the finals we shall not bother about looking for prizes as we will be engaged in making sure that the winning girl’s preparations for the Miss World event run smoothly. We don’t want to just produce a beautiful winner on Saturday but a beautiful girl who will take on the world’s best, come the Miss World finals.”
To ensure that the girls were well prepared for Saturday’s event, they joined a boot camp two weeks ago and in the past 14 days, they have been undertaking different activities that make them well acquainted with their country.
After checking in on Monday, the girls were taken on an induction exercise the following day by Chiwenga, herself a former finalist in the Miss Zimbabwe finals in 1999. The induction was basically to explain to them what the boot camp was all about, what was expected of them and how the three-week camp was to groom them for the finals, as well as for life.
On Wednesday they held their first session of rehearsals.
For most of the girls, this is their first ramp experience. Primrose Tshuma, from Tsholotsho, said it was her first time to enter a modelling contest and her wish is to win the title and prove that, in spite of one’s background and upbringing, any dream can be realised.
Yolanda Chimbarami, who at 19 years was the youngest girl in the boot camp, said what was pushing her for the title was to prove to all Zimbabweans, and especially the youth, that one is never too young to dream.
On Thursday they spent the day doing facials, with the assistance of Langa Sibanda, a former Miss Universe Zimbabwe, who has her line of cosmetics. Later in the afternoon they underwent some fitness training with Chris Hondowe, a routine which was expected to tone their bodies. Friday saw the girls touring the National Defence College where they learnt the role of the military in the country.
Air Commodore Evan Dumba gave the girls an insight into the reasons why the Defence College was established, its role and achievements so far since opening doors in 2012. He also took time to explain the challenges they are facing as a college.
On Saturday, the delegates visited El Dorado resort just outside Macheke to appreciate the beauty and freshness of Zimbabwe. The visit was also to help the girls understand how vital tourism is to Zimbabwe, as well as appreciate that there is more to tourism in the country than the most-talked-about destinations.
To sum up the first week, on Sunday the girls were part of the 60 000-strong crowd that endured 90 minutes of emotional pain as the Warriors were held to a 2-all draw by Tanzania, which saw the local national football team bow out on a 2-3 aggregate. The match was a preliminary qualifier to the 2015 African Nations Cup tournament to be held in Morocco. Monday saw them touring the National Heroes Acre, where 106 national heroes lie buried. The tour was an eye-opener for most of the girls who did not know that the Acre is shaped like an AK-47 assault rifle cut symmetrically in half.
The significance of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the murals of the two walls, and the Great Zimbabwe-inspired design were all explained to the girls.
Tuesday was another day for rehearsals, as the girls were taken through the paces, once again by Chiwenga and chaperones Terry Bharu and Nyarai Bwanya, with the assistance of Pamela Hakunavanhu. On Wednesday, the girls toured Savannah Tobacco plant, where they learnt how cigarettes are processed. On Wednesday, five more girls who had been writing their university examinations joined the 21 who were already in camp. Thursday was another day for rehearsals with Friday set for the sashing ceremony.
Of the 26 girls in the boot camp, 10 were to be eliminated, leaving 16 for the finals.
One of these 16 girls will be crowned Miss Zimbabwe on Saturday and her preparations for the bigger stage, the Miss World, will start in earnest. At the Miss World finals, set for London in December, Miss Zimbabwe 2014 will battle it out on the ramp with the most beautiful girls from around the world.
