‘Miss AfriCanada’ pageant living up
to billing

The 11th annual Miss AfriCanada Pageant has come and gone, and founder of the perennial event Wofa Yaw says the contest is producing the  desired objectives of his vision.
“From day one, I wanted to give young African women in Canada a platform to express themselves with courage and confidence, and so far so good,” Yaw explains.
He said Africanada is all about boosting the profile of women in every aspect, but especially in making it possible to give its participants the oomph to engage in public speaking as well as strutting their stuff.

This year’s contest was won by ‘Miss Zimbabwe’ Andriata Chironda who, Yaw said, proved “all my effort since the pageant started have paid off. She spoke eloquently and excellently, she deserved to win, and was very passionate in public about her views on world affairs. And that’s the kind of stuff a pageant should be about”. He stressed it would be a shame if all a pageant was about stopped at physical beauty for women. That, he said, would be sending the wrong message about a woman’s beauty.

Yaw said there’s more to a woman’s beauty than mere outward appearance, buttressing that Miss AfriCanada gives young African women the opportunity to boost self-confidence.
Concurs Chironda. “I grew up getting the message that you couldn’t merge the body and mind and that they are mutually exclusive. Women should not be told that beauty and brains are mutually exclusive,” adding: “I think this contest has actually made me richer in every sense.

I have learned a lot about myself and about people in general.” She said “what I particularly like about the pageant is that it does not objectify women by presenting the physical symmetry of one’s face or structure as the most important consideration”, noting women can be both physically attractive and brainy. “I believe the organizers of the Miss AfriCanada are sending a powerful message, and that’s the kind of message I too want to send younger adults.”


Shamba, who holds a Master’s degree in History, exuded courage and panache on stage as she delivered cerebral answers to world affairs questions.
Magnanimous in victory, she said her win was for all who participated. “All the girls who took part in the event are winners, not just me,” she said, stressing “we all came in different shapes and sizes and from different backgrounds, but the mere fact that we came on stage to speak to an audience and expose ourselves to them was courage in itself. So we are all winners, each and everyone who part in the 2009 AfriCanada pageant”.

Philosophising, Shamba said “I am who I am because of we”, a reference to the Umuntu-Ngumuntu-Ngadantu concept of oneness plucked from an African tradition in Zimbabwe.

Question:
What do you think should be the most important factors for choosing  the winner of a pageant? Send us your opinion by simply  writing to: info@elonnmagazine.com