Miss Tourism Zim pageant: Yes, beauty and intelligence co-exist

THE combination of beauty and brains has paid off for Mutare’s youthful lawyer and model, Tafadzwa Jaricha who was crowned Miss Tourism Zimbabwe 2018 at the national finals in Bulawayo last Saturday.

It was a historic achievement in so many ways as another Mutare model Life Mathunzeni was also crowned second princess. This was the first time ever for a Mutare model to be crowned the prestigious Miss Tourism Zimbabwe.

This was also the first time in the history of the pageant to have two models from the same province in the top three.

The only time a Mutare model appeared in top three of the pageant was in 2006 when Vongai Mushove was crowned second princess where, interestingly, Caroline Marufu was the eventual winner.

The feat demystified the myth that beauty and brains do not usually co-exist in one individual. People normally believe that where one of the two traits exists the other is recessive. Jaricha’s feat demystified the common assumption that models are not very serious people and have moderate qualifications pushing them to join the industry for fun.

During the Question and Answer segment, she articulately answered all questions with finesse and took the opportunity to market Eastern Highlands’ majestic tourism sites much to the amusement of adjudicators and a restless crowd.

This is a challenge to all young models whose passion for modelling had faded because of lack of moral support. Mutare has got potential and enough talent to compete at both national and international stages.

Interestingly, Mathunzeni, who is a Business Administration graduate from Africa University, wrote her exams during the Miss Tourism Zimbabwe boot camp and she passed with flying classes. She is now pursuing her Master’s Degree.

Jaricha and Mathunzeni’s success stories gave credence to the pageant. Mutare has been lagging behind in terms of promotion and nurturing of professional models but the duo showed the world that it can be done. They showed the world that beauty and brains can co-exist.

Jaricha, a lawyer with Mhungu and Associates, now shifts her focus to the Miss Tourism World pageant to be held in Malaysia where she will not only represent Manicaland province but Zimbabwe. Her presence on the international arena will go a long way in marketing the Eastern Highlands and Zimbabwe as majestic tourist destinations.

As a tourism ambassador, Jaricha needs all the necessary support from stakeholders and individuals as she readies to conquer the world.

This will be an opportunity for the Eastern Highlands and Zimbabwe’s tourism wonders to be marketed on international platform.

The sky is the limit for the model whose confidence and brainpower overwhelmed the adjudicators even during the pre-judging session, which constitutes about 40 percent of the overall assessment.

This is an achievable task for Jaricha whose road to stardom began in 2015 when she was crowned Miss University of Zimbabwe before she was crowned Queen at the Miss Universities pageant during the same year.