– Lisa Punch speaks about representing Guyana on the world stage

By Shauna Jemmott
MISS Guyana World, Lisa Punch, has returned home with a greater love for her country after having one of the best experiences of her life – “Surreal,” she says — representing Guyana on the Miss World stage in Sanya, China.

The Miss Guyana World Queen received a plaque and special bouquet from the Mayor and City Council yesterday when she paid a courtesy call on Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green at his office.

Mayor Green said he presented the plaque to the Miss Guyana World Queen as an appreciation. “Here’s a young woman who has done us proud at the international level, and we hope it would be an encouragement to others to do likewise. And we believe in the whole thesis of a sound mind and a sound body, a beautiful mind and a beautiful brain and a body; it’s a combined effort,” he said.

In response, Punch said: “I want to say thank you so much. I am so honoured, and I feel so blessed to be able to be in this position to represent Guyana and to be called Miss Guyana on the world stage. So I’m very thankful for this opportunity, and I’m grateful to be receiving everything that I’ve received thus far; and I am so proud to be Guyanese.”

The Miss Guyana Queen, who has won the coveted talent competition, described her participation in Miss World as “One of the best experiences of my life -surreal… It was one that I would cherish forever,” she disclosed.

“I really wish that many persons can get to experience something as grand as that, so that they will be able to appreciate their country more, and people.”

She said the journey has given her a feel of “royalty”, and being the individual she is, she was able to “fit in perfectly.”

Sanya City hotel was built for the staging of Miss World, and being among more than 100 queens was a unique experience, she disclosed.

“You learn a lot when you’re with 114 girls from around the world. There are some things that you say and somebody wouldn’t take offence to it; (but) the same thing you’d say, they would take offence to it, and you just have to be very careful what you say (and) how you say it.”

Speaking about the talent competition which placed her in the spotlight, the Queen said it was amazing.

EVERYONE CRIED
“When I sang for the audition first, the judges cried and everyone in the room cried. Then the second round they cried again, all the girls (Queens) were crying. That was an experience and a half, and I realized then that that is my purpose — to inspire people and to keep writing things to inspire.”

Punch said that although she understood that talent is a strong quality of hers, she had never, at any point, underestimated her opponents, as they all had talents worthy of being a winner.

“All the girls, they’re very talented, and everyone was there to win. I was there to win as well, and I didn’t take anybody for granted. Even though I believed in myself that I’d win, I didn’t take anybody for granted -saying ‘oh I’m gonna ace.’ I worked hard and I made sure I asked them what I needed to perfect on (as) a technical part for me to be better.”

She giggled over a slight error during the pageant, in which she reportedly said her grandmother was a slave. With a burst of laughter, she asked, “How can I ever say that my grandmother was a slave? What?! I grew up with my grandparents.”

She said that although she learnt that she was negatively criticized on social media by some fellow Guyanese, she thanked God that she was in a place of peace, not having access to social media.

“In China, there was no social media – no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram – I had no access to it, thank God, and He knew why He placed me there.”

All she had access to was positive information, and with the negatives being said too, “I didn’t allow it to distract me from what I was there to accomplish,” she told the press.

She said beauty queens lack enough support, and she encouraged Guyanese to give all they can to local queens, so that they can be more empowered to represent the country with confidence.

BUILD THEIR CONFIDENCE
“A lot of our young ladies they go up there and they are all very beautiful and they are all very intelligent, but we just don’t give them the chance; and if we can just give them the chance to represent us, it would benefit us; and backing our girls is one of the best things you can do for them to build their confidence,” she said.

Miss Guyana World hopefuls, she said, must “be prepared for anything! You have to work very hard, because, if you don’t work hard, you will not see the result of it. You can’t sit down and think that it’s all for the glitz and the glamour, because you have to put in a lot of work, and trust your team, because they know what they are doing.”

She credits her own Miss Guyana World Committee for being among the driving forces behind her success, as they worked tirelessly, with little sleep, just to ensure things were going right.

As a beauty queen, she said, “Always remember to be yourself, and remain humble! People will love your personality…. Whether it’s an introvert or an extrovert, just be yourself, and people will love you for who you are.”

She has returned to continue the mission she had started with her ‘Prevention of teenage suicide Guyana’ organization, which was launched in 2014.

Guyana, at Miss World, had also placed fourth in the ‘beauty with a purpose’ campaign because of the work which Miss Guyana World had done here in support of suicide prevention.

Punch said she is seeking to build a “safe haven” and to continue school tours, talking to kids “to inspire them and to let them know that believing in yourself takes you a far way.”

“So we’re just spreading positivity and being a living example of what believing in yourself does, and that’s what I want to do — to continue to inspire,” Lisa Punch stated.