Miss SVG contestants embark on empowerment campaign

This year’s contestants in the annual Miss St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Miss SVG) beauty pageant are embarking on an empowerment campaign, in addition to trying to win a university scholarship.

The seven contestants are Miss Quick Cash Corporation, Bryanna Hadaway; Miss Agricultural Input Warehouse, Brittney Oliver; Miss Jergens, Christal Oliver; Miss Kendra’s Aluminum Products Ltd, Darisean LaBorde; Miss Mustique Company Ltd, Nicolleen Lewis; Miss FLOW, Jimelle Roberts; and Miss Metrocint General Insurance Company Ltd, LaDonna Yorke.

Chairperson of the Beauty Shows Committee (BSC) Laferne Fraser told a recent media briefing that the committee sees the delegates as catalysts for positive change and as a result, this year the pageant format would move away from tradition slightly.

“In the past, they would have been involved in traditional volunteer work and highlighting some social issues, but this year we want to take on our very own issues, something that we felt is not being talked about much in society and something we would like to change. So, we have taken up the empowerment campaign,” said Fraser.

The contestants will address, among other things, protecting our youth by advocating strongly against incest and sexual abuse of children, education as empowerment (when you empower women you empower the world) and feminism. They will also advocate against emotional and verbal abuse, speak about rising above “our” circumstances, loving our natural selves (starting by loving our hair) and women against unhealthy competition (women for gender support).

Fraser said that the campaign is being supported by the East Caribbean Group of Companies (ECGC), which has given EC$30,000 to the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC).

“Thankfully, we have ECGC, which has come onboard as title sponsor for that campaign, and they are funding that campaign and we are grateful to them because we get to do some good work … delegates as catalyst for change,” said Fraser.

The BCS chair added: “The ECGC empowerment campaign is challenging and illuminating on issues facing women and girls and we are encouraging everybody — all of the Vincentian public, people in the diaspora who are supporting the Miss SVG pageant and the contestants — to join us on the campaign”.

Persons are being encouraged to follow the empowerment campaign by using the hashtags #ecgcempowerment and #misssvg2017.