The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mhlanga, Sunday News Reporter
Thandabantu Trust last week hosted a first ever Miss Disability pageant and talent show for the disabled in Bulawayo.
The Operations Manager of Thandabantu Trust, Cynthia Chieza, said the motive behind the event was to give people with disabilities a chance to showcase their talent.
“We wanted to give our friends who are differently abled a platform and opportunity to showcase their God-given talents, so the event was open to everyone regardless of their disabilities. We wish to challenge and change the attitudes that the society has towards the differently abled and give them equal opportunities and include them in activities that will help them thrive and achieve their full potential,” said Chieza.
There were eight contestants for the beauty pageant, six with hearing impediments and two with cerebral palsy. For the talent show there were two dance groups, Traditional dance group for the deaf and the Sithemba dance group, the members had different disabilities and there was one drama group called the Jairos Jiri drama group.
“In choosing winners for the beauty pageant all modelling rules applied but we were a bit lenient. We also looked at a person’s confidence and attire. Our Miss Ability was Paidashe Tekede, the First Princess being Gauldencia Rutize and the Second Princess was Gugu Pamela Ntini. For the talent show we also had three winners, first prize went to the Traditional dance group, second to Jairos Jiri group and third prize to Sithemba group,” she said.
Chieza said their future plans were to have more events that give the differently abled an opportunity to full express themselves both in the city and country wide.
