MISS World Guyana 2018 Hostess, Jamicia McCalman, on Wednesday said that the pageant geared toward empowering women in keeping with their Beauty with a Purpose mandate.

At a press conference held at the Pegasus Hotel, McAlmon stated that the MWG Organisation is looking for women of substance to be the next Miss World Guyana 2018, and that three open auditions will be held in an effort to reach out to women between the ages of 17 and 25 who may be eligible for the crown. The auditions will be held on March 17, 18 and 24 in Berbice, Linden and Georgetown,respectively.

McCalman added that at the open auditions, past queen Vena Mookram will be on hand to motivate the young ladies in which “Beauty with a Purpose” Initiative will take centre stage.

The pageant consists of a body of persons who operate under the brand ‘Majesty International’ who are working ardently to plan and execute the standards and principles of the international competition.

Miss World Guyana 2018 is being headed by Natasha Martindale, who has served as the National Director since 2013 for the MWG. Other members of the team include Project Manager, Winston Martindale, the Marketing team; NEXGEN, spearheaded by Aleem Hussain, along with Administrative Assistants and Social Media Monitors; Narda Mohammed, Adrian Ramlochan, Sachin Lall and Aravinda Moonsammy. This year, Majesty International will also collaborate with Guyana Carnival 2018 to increase the visibility of its brand.

MWG representatives throughout the years have represented Guyana as true ambassadors: Ruqayyah Boyer, who placed top 32 in beach fashion; Rafieya Hussain, who placed top four in Multimedia and was the winner of the Beauty With A Purpose and overall top 10 placement at the Miss World; Lisa Punch, who placed top five in Multimedia, top 10 in Beauty With A Purpose, and was the winner of the Miss World Talent; Nurriyyih Gerard who was awarded a Beauty With A Purpose certificate and the reigning Queen, Vena Mookram, who was also awarded a Beauty With A Purpose certificate.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of MWG 2018 Roshini Boodhoo-Persaud, elaborated on the Miss World Guyana’s undertaking, stating that she is also representing Natasha Martindale. She pointed out that Miss World Guyana 2018 is a community-spirited, national organisation that exists to enrich the lives of young women through an unsurpassed self-exploration experience. Boodhoo-Persaud noted that it is their mission to provide tremendous value to all involved especially assisting the finalists in developing a lifestyle of service to others. “We provide the young women in our charge with extraordinary opportunities for growth and development,” she said.

Persaud -Boodhoo stated that their programme recognises the personal achievement, community involvement and excellence of young women throughout Guyana and the diaspora in a fun and trendy community of sisters, who become role models, regional representatives and ambassadors of many worthy causes and charities.

“We award young women for their accomplishments and mentor them to reach their goals and unleash their true potential while encouraging them to find their voice and make a difference,” she said.

She added that they offer one of the highest quality competitive programmes in the country for beautiful young women and partner with well-known industry professionals in the fashion and modeling worlds to provide their finalists with an exciting and unforgettable experience that is of high class.

She noted that while Miss World Guyana is the top name in traditional pageantry in Guyana they focus more on keeping their core values at the forefront. “Our philosophy is that each candidate is unique and more than just a number, and we endeavour to develop relationships that turn our finalists into more than just clients. We are building a world of superwomen,” she said.

Persaud-Boodhoo said the theme for the MWG 2018 is `Ultra Violet: Beauty Revealed’ and the Ultra Violet colour is a representation of “pushing through boundaries, spurring individuals to leave their unique mark on the world”, thus revealing their true beauty.

She pointed out that on their mission to find this year’s MWG beauty ambassador, they have decided to venture across the boundaries. She stated that open auditions are new for the organisation but it will allow potentials to ask questions, interact with the team and MWG Vena Mookram will share her experience and elaborate in any area of interest.

“We also encourage young women who might have plans to enter in the future if not this time around, to come out and grasp as much from the open auditions,” she said.

Persaud-Boodhoo added that they have already recruited some local and international preselected semi-finalists via electronic applications. “Recruitment drive is the most important of all the processes, the recruitment drive is the most anticipated of all the events as we kick-start the process and excitement to find the next Miss World among our Guyanese young women,” she said.

She stated that a few months ago, Natasha Martindale shared her plan to make the Miss Guyana brand a global one in an effort to give every Guyanese girl a fair chance to become Miss World. This year, they are focusing on a more inclusive selection by extending our recruiting drive to USA, UK, Canada and Guyana.

The NEXGEN Marketing Representative, Aleem Hussain, said that this year they have made major changes as it relates to the judging which will be done in accordance with international standards to have the results verified.

He disclosed that this year too they will take on the responsibility of securing sponsorships for all contestants who will not be burdened in that aspect.

Hussain said that the packages and prizes are very exciting and include a four-year scholarship among other benefits where contestants will also be trained.

At the press conference were three former contestants of 2017 who shared their experiences to motivate others to get on board this year.