Tough night ahead as judges decide who wears crown
GUYANA will be all eyes and ears tonight as the six delegates in this year’s Miss Guyana World pageant take to the stage of the National Cultural Centre to see who has what it takes to take on the rest of the world at the finals in London come November. As you may know by now, this year’s crop of girls are regarded as the crиme de la crиme in recent pageant history in terms of beauty and intelligence, with some having had the privilege of being raised and educated in such places as Australia, Suriname, Barbados, and the U.S.
In order to help readers better appreciate who they’re rooting for, we bring you today the profiles of each of the six young women. The event will be aired by the National Communications Network (NCN) and Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) across Guyana and the Caribbean respectively.

Delegate# 1: Arti Cameron (22)
Platform: Women’s empowerment and access to equal opportunities as a response to violence against women.
Arti Cameron is a highly motivated young woman with a passion for life. She is currently pursuing a career in medicine, and has recently completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Sciences.
She was born in Georgetown and migrated to Jamaica in 1995. In Jamaica, she attended the Savanna-La-Mar Primary School and began assimilating the vibrant Jamaican culture. She quickly joined the school’s prestigious marching band as part of the cheerleading squad that was the flare and pride of her school, and was part of that school’s dance group that won a prominent parish-level dance competition.
She returned to Guyana in August 1999, and re-enrolled at her old school, Sacred Heart Primary, where she prepared for the Common Entrance examinations, and succeeded in winning a place at St. Joseph High in 2000.
While at ‘Joseph’, she represented the school in many ways such as, at netball, and at the Mashramani dance competitions. She also had the privilege of being the first speaker on the school’s debating team; president of its environmental group, ‘The Green Team’; winning  the Miss St. Joseph High School junior title in 2003;  modelling at a number of school events; and to crown it all, passing nine subjects at CXC at one sitting. She’d just entered Queens College when she left for the United States in December, 2005.
In July 2008, she obtained an Associate Degree in Science with honours from LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), where, besides winning a college-wide speech competition, which carried a cash incentive, she was also the recipient of several scholarships and grants. She was at one time also elected president of the LAGCC Psychology Club and the Student Advisory Council.  
In September 2008, Arti enrolled at her dream college, Hunter, in Manhattan. While she sees herself as a world citizen, she’s also a ‘self-appointed ambassador’ for Guyana and is a passionately proud Guyanese who has sought to represent her country wherever she goes.

Delegate#2:  Soyini Fraser (21)
Platform: Empowering Guyanese women through spirituality
A Christian and an aspiring child psychologist, Soyini Fraser was born in Georgetown and attended Queens College where she gained recognition as an athlete in track and field.
She was also a member of the school’s steel pan orchestra from First to Sixth Form, and a Sub- Prefect in Fourth Form. She is currently in her fourth and final year at the Life Christian University here in Guyana, reading for a Bachelor’s degree in Theology.
And, upon the conclusion of this programme, she plans to continue the journey of academic pursuit by studying Christian Psychology to bring her closer to accomplishing her career objective.
A junior member of the local troupe, the Classique Dance Company, in early 2010 was chosen from hundreds of dancers to represent Guyana at the ICC 20/20 cricket games which premiered here. In September of the same year, she was fortunate to be among the eight Company members who went to the USA to participate in the annual Guyana Cultural Association’s Folk Festival celebrations. As the first Miss Guyana Earth, she spent several weeks touring Vietnam as Guyana’s representative at Miss Earth 2010.
When she is not working or studying, you’ll find her either walking, chatting on the Internet, reading, or spending time with family and friends.

Delegate# 3: Ruquayyah Boyer (21)
Platform: Breaking barriers: The journey from homemaker to CEO
Ruqayyah Boyer is a second-year International Relations student at the University of Guyana. Her ambition is a career in the field of political science and law, preferably within the framework of the United Nations.
Prior to embarking on tertiary studies, she completed sixth form at the St. Stanislaus College, where she was a part of many extracurricular activities, some of which included volunteering at the National Library, embarking on group activities through the Rotaract Club and working on her passion in the entertaining Arts.
In addition to her educational endeavours, Ruqayyah has participated in the Miss Guyana Talented Teen pageant, represented Guyana at Miss Teen Universal, and won the Miss Linden Town Week 2010, where she scored trophies for Best Talent, Best Evening Gown, Body Beautiful and Intelligence.
She has also appeared in fashion events like Guyana Fashion Week 2010, and modelled for US-based Guyanese designer, Roger Gary as part of the Miss Guyana Earth pageant, and featured in such magazines as 98 Edition and De Pulse.
The multitalented beauty has an avid interest in poetry and music, the theatre arts, photography, dance, and singing, and is part of a newly-formed singing group called the ‘Peppa Barbies’, which includes local talents such as Jackie Hanover, Lisa Punch and Tennecia DeFreitas. She is currently working on releasing two solo singles with the local outfit, Brutal Tracks Recording Studios.
Her first walk in front of the camera came during a role in a local film called ‘Ole house pun ole house, Part 2’, written and produced by a local film writer named, Michael James. After this venture, she actively became a part of acting in plays at the Lichas Theatre Arts. She is also an avid sportswoman and fitness fan, having had a background in track and field and swimming, and professes a love for nature.

Delegate #4: Utieka John (20)
Platform: Women and education
An aspiring Attorney-at-Law, Utieka describes herself as a beautiful, confident, vibrant, energetic and self-determined individual who finds comfort in helping young children and motivating others to achieve their goals.
She gained her secondary education at the St. Joseph and Bishops’ High Schools, and is currently studying History at the University of Guyana.
Her interests include singing, dancing, modelling, meeting interesting people, reading romance novels, listening to music, socializing and getting involved in community activities.
She has in the past secured the titles of Junior Miss St. Joseph in 2006, and Miss Mocha Beauty and Intelligence Pageant, and Miss East Bank Demerara Beauty Pageant in 2007and sees herself representing Guyana at the prestigious Miss World Pageant.
Expressing a love for pageantry, Utieka believes such events have helped her to become more aware of self, and opened the door to countless possibilities.
She believes any dream can become a reality through hard work and sacrifice, and would like to encourage other youths to set goals and to have a positive outlook on life and its principles, develop leadership qualities and a sense of love and respect for each other and be self- sufficient and focus their attention only on positive influences in our society.

Delegate #5: Siestra Allen (23)
Platform: Changing the role of teenage girls
Seistra Allen attained her secondary education at the Grantley Adams Memorial Airport School in Barbados, having migrated to that Caribbean island at the age of 11.
There, she came into her own, topping her class, and playing a major role in the theatre arts group. She made the bold step of sitting the CXC examinations in English Language and Social Studies in Third form, gaining passes in both subjects. In her fourth year, she was named the school’s Deputy Head Girl, and recently graduated with the Valedictorian honour and held the award of Best Graduating Student in her theatre arts class.
In 2010, Seistra represented Guyana at the Miss Teen Universal Pageant, where she copped the Best Costume and First Runner-Up prizes, being the first Guyanese to ever place in the history of the pageant. She then went on to runway modelling, and was recently handpicked by celebrity hairstylist, Karl J from Los Angeles to lead a section at his International Hair Show.
Seistra plans attending the Barbados Community College to pursue an Associate Degree in Theatre Arts, as she sees herself holding a starring role someday in a daytime television ‘soap’, and being the Face of Cover Girl cosmetics.
Passionate about children as well, it makes her angry to hear of them being abused, which led her to launching the Unite For Children Campaign with Caribbean award-winning designer, Andrew Harris and gospel artiste, Trenacia Esseboom, through which they promote the Speak Out method by educating children on the different forms of abuse.

Delegate#6: Celeste Dolphin (22)
Platform: Empowering Guyanese women affected by mental illnesses
Celeste Dolphin has a passion for dance, and  joined the National School of Dance at the tender age of four.
Born in Linden, Celeste, who also spent some time in Georgetown and Buxton, has led an active social life, participating in many school activities, including two pageants while at the Sacred Heart Primary School.
At 10, she moved to Australia after her father landed a job there, and attained her secondary education at the Karingal Park Secondary College. She says her interest in helping people stems from her mom being a nurse. At the end of her secondary education, she successfully completed the VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education), and graduated with four awards of academic excellence in Psychology, Biology, Health and Human Development and English Literature.
She eventually enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University where she pursued studies in Social Science (Youth Work) and successfully graduated with a  distinction. Besides studying, she did some volunteer work with various organizations, including Migrant Resource Centre and Frankston Youth Resource Centre.
She strongly believes that if you truly want something and work hard for it, you will get it. Dreams will come true if you try, work hard and believe in yourself.
She is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Counselling at Monash University (one of the top Universities in Australia),  and on completion of her  studies, plans visiting Guyana and increasing mental health awareness and implementing several mental health strategies and programmes, particularly focusing on young people.