Cultural Corner: Beauty with a mission

By Bjarne Joergensen, Danish Development Worker at St. Johns Community Centre

Twelve aspiring ghetto beauties are training in the art of catwalk. They are neatly dressed in evening gowns bought second hand at the nearby Gikomba Market. Repeated rehearsals ensure that every step is perfect and the sway of the hips is just right.

After more that two years working as a development worker with a focus on poverty eradication and intercultural cooperation, it seems somewhat contradictory for me to find myself preparing for a Grand Glamour Night amongst the poorest of the poor.

Since the emancipation of women in Denmark a hundred years ago, we Danes have been taught that objectification and commercialization of women, is oppressive. In fact, I have been convinced to think that beauty contests are politically incorrect. But confronted with these facts my Kenyan colleagues clearly have a different view. What is more, last week’s Gender Mainstreaming Staff Training does not make a difference to their views.

“What is wrong with admiring beauty?” they ask emphasizing that the main idea is to identify young women in the community, who have the capacity to act as community role models for vulnerable girls in the slums. At the end, one beauty queen will eventually be crowned, but the whole group of beauty candidates will team up in the fight against HIV/Aids and the stigmatization of people living with the virus. The function falls under the category of “edutainment”; this being entertainment spiced up with educational information on relevant issues.

Soon its all systems go: Beauties swaying, questions being asked, cameras clicking. By the time the event is coming to an end, the crowd of more than 600 excited spectators has been standing for five hours to watch the Glamour Show.

Finally, Miss Pumwani is crowned. She together with her team is ready to use their publicity to focus the community’s attention on the Fight against HIV/AIDS.

The Criterion for Wining

To assess the quality of the contestants the young Pumwani ladies were taken through an interview on literacy, English skills, honesty and ability to be role models, their willingness to commit to ½ year volunteer work, their knowledge of aids related issues - and of course beauty.

The Winner

The 20-year old Caroline Ngina is the happy and proud winner of the contest. She is confident that she will be a good role model for the girls in the slum and that the Miss Pumwani title has given her a platform amongst men, who will now listen to her message on HIV/AIDS.