Little Miss Rotaract 2014…Pageant promises to promote character building for young girls in Linden

Apr 20, 2014 News

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By Sunita Samaroo
In a world where the ascent is invariably concentrated on physical attributes, and little girls are often pressured from all sectors of society, the major focus in the upcoming Little Miss Rotaract pageant will not be on external beauty but rather on the “aura that is inside.”
For the third time, the activities of the Linden Town Week will go beyond being synonymous with fun and frolic.
As a matter of fact, come May 2, eight 10-year-old girls from public schools across Guyana’s mining town promise to light up the stage at the Mackenzie Sports Club as part of the pageant, bringing refreshing individuality, talent and brainpower to the forefront.
The event, organised by the Rotaract Club of Linden, is geared towards bringing a fresh dimension to the world of pageantry by allowing each of the contestants to recognize their aspirations and their need to see themselves as valuable individuals within their communities.
This is according to the club’s President, Analese Roman, who recently spoke to Kaieteur News.
The pageant, she said, started in 2012 and has since been integral in helping to build confident, self-assured and humble young ladies for tomorrow’s generation.

Roman said that the pageant is in fact the brainchild of past Rotaractor Dawn Barker who in making a proposal to the club two years ago, saw the need for the empowerment of young girls in their community as imperative.
“It was an idea the club got behind because we recognized that at the time there were no pageants targeting grade five girls and we (club members) all agreed that pageantry is one sure way to empower females from a very tender age.”
But the pageant is not all about physical beauty.
The objective, she affirms, was and still is to help young girls to build their self-esteem and the effort does not end with the sashing of a princess.
She explained that they intend to promote the Queen as an ambassador to help in the continued promotion of literacy in young children.
“It’s also about building character. The focus is for each contestant to build their self-esteem but not become vain.”
The pageant which promotes institutional strengthening “is rather to expose them to an arena that helps them to develop their ability to study as well as retain what they have studied and put it across in an articulate manner.”
“Enabling them (the contestants) to display their talents and abilities among their peers was also an objective since as we believe that we are all multi-faceted individuals and we want them to be aware of that,” she said
Elaborating on the theme for the pageant, Roman revealed that “Little Miss Rotaract – Caribbean Queen” was chosen to offer the contestants a chance to learn and adequately represent a different Caribbean country.”
That simply means that even as the pageant curtain drops, the contestants will be equipped to promote the culture, food, dress and general way of life of each of the chosen Caribbean countries.
Roman explained that the countries which will be showcased are all part of the club’s Rotaract District (7030).
“As we also promote our organisation, the beautiful Caribbean islands each have a Little Miss representative.”
“Representing our neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago will be Ashanti Sullivan from the Christianburg Primary School; Barbados by Shuana Gray of Wismar Hill Primary; St. Kitts and Nevis by Watooka Day Primary’s Curtdacia Nestor; St. Vincent and the Grenadines by Amelia’s Ward Primary’s Angelicia Loo; St. Lucia by Mackenzie Primary’s Naomi Maraj, Dominica by Coomacka Primary’s Kesa Pearson; Martinique by St. Aidan’s Primary’s Alicia Grandison and Grenada by One Mile Primary’s Diveyane Kalipersaud.”
The pageant entails different segments beginning with the Intelligence Segment. At the beginning of the pageant the girls are given packages which contain information on various subject areas, a brief history on Linden and its Town Week activities as well as Rotaract.
Recounting, Roman said that the very first time the pageant was executed under the theme “Little Miss Rotaract – Little Princesses” offering the contestants a chance to focus on the innocence and magical nature of their childhood.
The very first winner was Miss Olivia Bicar who represented Christianburg Primary. Roman explained that during her stint as “Little Miss,” she was used to further the promotion of Literacy in younger children.
Last year the pageant was themed “Little Miss Rotaract – Little Miss Professional” and it was chosen to ignite in the children a spark that encouraged them to think of what professions they would like to choose in future.
The contestants, the President said, all choose for themselves what profession they wanted to represent and that included Doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, police officers, flight attendants etcetera.
The winner of last year’s pageant was Miss Lesryn Datson who represented the Watooka Day Primary.
Roman explained that the pageant was also seen as an opportunity to raise awareness of Rotaract to the community at large.
Rotaract, Roman explained, is a service organisation comprising young professionals and tertiary level students, between the ages of 18 and 30, who are always eager to touch and transform lives within their communities.
To elaborate, Rotaract clubs organise a variety of projects and activities, depending primarily on the interests of the members of the club, which are said to be influenced by the needs of their communities and the world at large.
“Rotaract Clubs in Guyana have over the years contributed to community development through various projects that range from supporting Special Needs schools, adoption of orphanages, geriatric homes, medical outreaches, donation of school supplies to children in need and orphanages; and many more.”
“It was a good fund-raising activity to execute during a time in Linden that’s economically viable. All community service Rotaract projects are executed with funds raised and sponsorship.”
She explained that the main reason for the fund-raiser was for the club to be able to complete payment for the transportation of a child they had sponsored who was successful at the grade 6 examination and was attending high school in the city and was forced to travel daily from Linden.
The club, however, has since extended on that.
Last year, the funds were used to assist in the distribution of books on World Literacy Day to all the primary schools involved as well as donating approximately 30 backpacks, complete with school supplies, to children in the community.
“We have decided to direct the funds raised to completing projects we have planned in this the last quarter of the Rotaract year which includes Rehabilitation and Adoption of the Centre for the Differently Able.”
Event sponsors include Bosai Minerals, Banks DIH, the Regional Democratic Council, Live Wire, Snooks Variety Store, Fine’s Jewelry, Fredco’s Photo Studio, Ryan’s Air Touch, Foreign Links Auto Parts, Giftland Office Max, Mrs. Shirley Roman, BrainStreet and Rotary Demerara.
Thus far this year, many of the ardent supporters remain the same along with Babies “R” Us, Major’s Sports Centre, Triple ‘A’ Book Store and Media Solutions – Mr. Malcolm James.

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