The Sunday News
A UNITED Kingdom based, pageant – Face of the Globe Zimbabwe – which was incepted three years ago in that country is seeking to partner local licence holders and companies in an endevour to empower the girl child.
In an interview, the director of the pageant, Lorraine Chinouriri, said she was calling on local companies, organisations and industry professionals who would like to partner them in exchange for international recognition in the UK and Paris throughout 2015-16.
The pageant seeks to open doors for young girls and women of Zimbabwean decent, so as to secure jobs and earn a living through various sustainable projects.
Contestants, who will enter the pageant, will be judged by their intelligence, charisma, class and commitment to charitable causes, their portrayal of the modern Zimbabwean woman and representation of the beauty of Zimbabwe as a country.
“What sets us apart is the fact that we are the only international pageant that welcomes mothers, wives and women over 25 to compete. We have no height or weight restrictions and we have removed the swimwear round and replaced it with African/traditional wear. We are purely about empowering women and young girls and letting them know they are not defined by society’s version of beauty, neither should their worth be measured by the size of their body whether they are slim, average or plus size,” said Chinouriri.
Last year, Face of the Globe Zimbabwe crowned Biomedical Science student and aspiring fashion designer, Alishia Musungo, as one of its ambassadors.
This month, Alishia travelled to Paris for an all-expenses paid for seven day trip to compete on the international stage.
Face of the Globe was approached shortly after by one of Africa’s most respected names, Justina Mutale and asked to provide a candidate to represent Zimbabwe in the Exquisite Face of the Universe pageant, where Alishia was named as a finalist.
“During her reign, Alishia went on to host a number of charity events, she featured as a model for numerous catwalks, photo shoots and was a lead model in a music video.
“She also made her debut magazine cover for international magazine, Effuse. Alishia’s hard work resulted in her being nominated for the personality of the year award at the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards. By the end of her reign Alishia was signed to major fashion retailer, H&M, as a model for their upcoming seasonal clothing trend,” said Chinouriri.
Chinouriri said that this year, Alishia crowned her successor, Psychology graduate, Lillie Chopamba, who represented Zimbabwe as Miss Grand Zimbabwe at the MGI held in Thailand sometime last month.
“2014 also marked the year that the pageant opened the age bracket to include girls aged 5-17. Face of the Globe Zimbabwe was approached by another organisation and asked to provide a candidate to go and represent Zimbabwe in Thailand for the Miss Grand International pageant and Lillie Chopamba was named as a finalist. Lillie spent three weeks being treated like royalty in Thailand where she competed with 85 countries on the international stage, she also reached top 30 in the interview round and was named Top 9 faces of beauty by Missology, the online beauty pageant magazine that covers Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International and Miss Earth,” she said.
Chinouriri said Face of the Globe Zimbabwe was in the process of introducing an adult category to Zimbabwe.
“We had a lot of girls enquiring and applying from Zimbabwe and felt we had to come and crown an adult winner there. Our aim is to continue to be recognised globally but do so whilst promoting the talent in Zimbabwe.
“At the moment our team consists of a hair and makeup crew from two Zimbabwean companies (7 Wonders Artistry and Sandz MUA), a Zimbabwean pageant coach with over 40 years’ experience in the industry (Shirley James) and four other Zimbabwean volunteers. What we want is to continue to build a team of passionate industry leaders who are all Zimbabwean and start bringing the international crowns home, when we sent our girl to Miss Grand International, her evening wear and traditional were handmade by a talented Zimbabwean lady from the fashion line, ‘House of Gogoza’ and we did well, we want to continue like that, together. As our Reigning Queen says, pull (each-other up) as we climb,” added Chinouriri.
She noted that all the provinces in Zimbabwe would hold their own pageants and crown their winners, who would then compete in Harare at the grand finale.
The winner would then travel to UK then Paris to compete on the international stage.
“We are really pushing for more emphasis on charity work as that is a big part of our organisation as a whole. Last year Face of the Globe raised about £45 000 for the Rainbow Child Foundation and we are trying to do the same for our foundation in the future, as it benefits Zimbabwean women and children, so that will be a big part of the pageant in Zimbabwe and there will be a ‘Miss Charity’ winner for that category.
“This year the girls and young ladies did photo-shoots, baked cakes and involved themselves in other activities to raise money for charity. Our mini and junior finalists also raised enough money to buy sewing machines that are going to be sent to Zimbabwe for the younger contestants, it is all about charity work and meeting new friends and having different experiences and for the older it is usually the stepping stone to greater things in their careers,” she added.
