Save for Shakira Baksh copping the 2nd runner up position in the Miss World pageant in 1967, Guyana is yet to field a beauty ambassador who make it to the top twenty line up of any international pageant.
Amongst the more recent local line-up fielded to the international pageant to date who impressed locally but failed internationally are Indra Changa, Olive Gopaul, Odessa Phillips, Alexis Glasgow, Suzette Shim, Jamine Herzorg, Desia Braithwaite, Candace Charles and Christa Simmons.
However, hope has not faded on the local front, through Kaierouann Imarah Shaade Kensha Radix who says “I am very proud to be an ambassador for Guyana and am excited to have been chosen because I think I can bring a lot more to the table this year.”
Selected online by Kenneth Chung, the Miss Guyana World Franchise Holder, the scholarly but fierce 24-year-old local catwalk diva, is Guyana’s beauty ambassador to the 2009 international pageant slated for South Africa, December 12.
She said “I will represent my country with pride, intelligence, poise and confidence and I will showcase the country not just from the stand point of a tourism ambassador.” The confident ever smiling beauty stated she will be promoting Guyana on the world stage through a traditional dance for talent.
Her wardrobe to the pageant and for the charity ball in London will include creations from local designers Vashti Harlequin, Ronda Dunbar, Keisha Edwards, Lou-Ann Jackson amongst others.
There was no pageant staged this year but a selection process was done online and was opened to all eligible Guyanese beauties locally and in the diaspora.
“I simply submitted my biography and pictures to the franchise holder and found out by e-mail that I was selected,” she told Kaieteur News.
That mail reached her one day before she was supposed to leave Guyana for the United Kingdom to start her master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy.
As prelude to heading to South Africa she will be spending a week in London for several charity balls etc.
After the crowning she is scheduled to pay several courtesy calls on President Bharrat Jagdeo and other dignitaries as part of her duties in Guyana. She is in the process of completing the filming of her presentation for the Miss World ‘Beauty with a purpose’ charity segment of the pageant which will be shown to the other contestants and judges in South Africa. This will afford them the opportunity to see what humanitarian project Imarah has been involved in.
Who is Imarah?
Imarah, a charming twenty-four year old beauty is a graduate of the CobhamHall girls school Kent, England with ten G.C.S.E subjects including French and Dance. She went on to complete three ‘A’ Levels in Russian History, English Literature and Classical Greek Civilization. A recent graduate of Oxford Brookes University with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Politics, Imarah has deferred her place on the Masters Degree programme at the University College Kensington, London to take up the once in a lifetime opportunity to represent Guyana at the Miss World Pageant. “Luckily for me I have an unconditional place at University in London.” She says she will be return to her studies next September after the pageant and her one year reign as Miss Guyana World is completed.
An easy miss congeniality, her interests are diverse outside of her academic pursuits and her many hobbies include swimming, reading, modelling, singing, floral arrangements and dance /choreography.
In pursuit of her A-Levels, Imarah undertook the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and learnt the invaluable benefits of being a team player, navigational skills such as map reading and enjoyed the challenges of outdoor camping.
Guyana’s beauty ambassador is an ardent Scuba diver who is both Scuba Schools International and PADI trained and is certified in the Open Water and Advanced Open Water diver’s courses with five specialties. She is a trained Wreck diver, Navigational diver, Deep water diver, Peak Performance diver, Underwater Naturalist and Search and Recovery diver. All these specialties have enhanced her abilities to be a safe and more qualified diver. She says she most enjoyed the underwater naturalist specialty as it was focused on caring for and maintaining the underwater environment in light of climate change and human degradation of the environment.
She participated in fish spotting while on her dives to help monitor the amount of fish species in the water and to measure the impact of climate change on the fish and their habitat. Her sense of adventure has taken her to countries such as Egypt, Margarita Island off Venezuela, Thailand, Nigeria, several European destinations as well as the wider Caribbean. Through travelling and diving, Imarah has enjoyed the experiences of socializing with the many peoples of the world and learning about their cultures, history and way of life.
She also has a fervent interest in dance and began classical ballet training at the tender age of three.
Since then, she has continued to master other dance forms such as Ballroom, Tap, Jive, Hip hop and Latin. During her time at Oxford, Imarah choreographed a dance for the University’s Afro-Caribbean Society Talent Show in her first Year.
Imarah has taken part in many fashion shows both in Guyana and abroad including the inaugural Guyana Fashion Weekend. She has appeared as a model for London based designer Anetha Daniels in GEM Magazine, has graced the cover of Extra and has done photo shoots for major companies in Guyana. Further she has served as a hanger for some of Guyana’s best designers including Michelle Cole, Olympia Small Sonaram, Ronda Dunbar, Anetha Daniels.
Imarah has also appeared on television in US Aids awareness commercials and in music videos for local Guyanese Artistes and also won a competition in the United Kingdom to be the face of the Tigeress Clothing brand.
Imarah describes herself as an extremely strong, motivated and socially aware individual who is always taking an interest in society’s less fortunate. When in Guyana, she visits with the children at the Durban backhands orphanage to help out in any way possible.
As at 2008 she has taken on a drive to provide meals for the less fortunate on the West Bank of the Demerara River in memory of her ‘grandma’ Khatoon Rahaman, who taught her the benefits and blessings gained through charitable acts. She says “There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you are assisting someone who is in genuine need of a helping hand.”
Speaking of her future she said after she completes her masters, she hopes to work in the area of Human Rights with the United Nations or an affiliated non-governmental organization. She is very interested in children and their fundamental rights. Imarah is a passionate person in her values and morals and is totally committed to fulfilling her dreams while contributing and playing her role to make this world a better place for future generations to enjoy. She feels strongly about issues of racial discrimination, world poverty, social injustice, climate change, conservation of wildlife and the environment.
Those who know her describe her as a relentless worker “when she sets her mind on achieving a goal she sticks to it as a personal motto that there is no such thing as luck.” She says her life’s philosophy is “when opportunity knocks one must be prepared.”
By Mondale Smith
No, we’re not kidding. Bourda market has its own queen; yes, the Bourda market downtown.
With an expressed need for more pomp and ceremony and better stage decor for tourism promotions, the organisers of the Miss Jamzone 2009 pageant lifted the standards while showcasing a commendable bevy of possible Miss Guyana delegates Sunday night at Splashmin’s Fun Park on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.