Preps hot up:
PREPARATIONS for Miss Curvy Zimbabwe 2016 set for August 27 are at an advanced stage.
Miss Curvy is aimed at priming a strong and independent woman who is comfortable in her own natural beauty that she symbolises and carries norms and values of an African woman.
In an interview, the pageant organiser Mercy Mushaninga said contestants from different provinces were selected for the grand finale scheduled for Zvishavane.
“Thirteen contestants, between the age of 18 and 30, drawn from different provinces around the country have been identified already ahead of the August grand finale,” she said.
Mercy also said they are focusing on introducing Miss Curvy Africa in December.
“If things goes according to our plan, we are focusing on introducing Miss Curvy Africa which will see more than 20 African countries participating in the competition on mother soil,” she said.
Explaining how the identified contestants are going to be selected Mercy said the selection process starts on August 20.
“The finalists are set to check in for a boot camp on August 20 at a venue to be announced. On August 21 we are going to have a church service at New Life Church in Harare, before rolling out other events.”
Mercy said the time table has been drawn to the final date which will see the Miss Curvy Zimbabwe being crowned.
“August 23 will be a fitness day, this is a physical training session done at a local gym.
“On August 24, there will be a food festival where pageants present five traditional dishes from their areas of origin and again, we will select the top five from each category,” she said.
The pageants will travel to Zvishavane on August 25.
On arrival, the pageants will meet Hon MP for Zvishavane, Cde John Holder and also a local chief who will be selected by the MP.
In the selected area, the pageants will identify orphans who will be presented with groceries and food staffs from “Zunde raMambo”.
Mercy said August 26 will be another day for the battle of queens.
“Top five best cultural queens will be selected, pageants will be competing on our cultural context be it dressing, singing, dancing, beating drums, playing mbira or anything to do with our Zimbabwean culture,” she said.
The final competition will be held on the August 27.
The Miss Curvy Zimbabwe is chosen from the top five selected in all catego- ries, said Mercy.
Mercy also said the pageant aims to promote African culture and also restoring national identity.
“We have started this programme to promote and restore our African culture. We also want to eradicate hunger to those in need like orphans and elderly people. At the moment the models are in rural areas working on their project ’Models against hunger in Africa’ that will be presented on August 22,” she said.
The pageant has also engaged several potential sponsors that include creative beauty studio among others.
“We are expecting a very good show, students from MSU, Great Zimbabwe and other areas are coming. People seem to be excited about this project.
“This beauty pageant has come a long way in affording big women an opportunity to show case their beauty as curvy women,” she said.