RECOGNISING her as a child of the soil, a proud product of Bartica and by extension Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), the Bartica Mayor and Town Council endorsed 24-year-old Gabriella Chapman for the Miss World Guyana 2020 National competition.

At an auspicious ceremony on Wednesday at the Town Hall, the Mayor and Town Council endorsed Miss Chapman as she embarks on a remarkable and life-changing journey. The 24-year-old journalist and women empowerment advocate has been selected as a Semi-Finalist in the Miss World Guyana Pageant, scheduled to be held at the National Cultural Center in May 2020. The Miss World Guyana National Competition is one of the premier events during the country’s Independence celebrations, and Miss Chapman was selected from among the 83 young women who applied.

In his address during the endorsement ceremony, which included a rich display of Guyanese talent, the Mayor of Bartica Gifford Marshall said he is pleased to support and partner with the Miss World Guyana Candidate – the town’s very own.
He noted that Miss Chapman, through her Girl Build Girl Foundation, has been working to boost the esteem of young girls between the ages of 14 and 25, and had conducted several empowerment sessions in Bartica.

He urged residents of Bartica, and, by extension, the region, to support Miss Chapman, noting that the journey she has embarked on is no easy task. “Your support over the next couple of months will mean a lot to her,” Marshall said even as he iterated the Municipality’s support.

Born on July 25, 1995, Miss Chapman describes herself as an amiable person, who thrives on learning and experiencing new things. Added to that, she said she is a well determined and vigorous individual but yet pleasantly calm.

Graduating with nine subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations, Miss Chapman, was deemed the best graduating student in English Language. She later served as an English Language, Agricultural Science and Health & Family Life Education teacher at the Bartica Secondary School. It was during her time as a teacher, she discovered her love and passion for empowering children to be dream achievers, especially young girls.

She later ventured into to the world of pageantry, and participated in six pageants. Mr & Ms University of Guyana Student Society pageant 2015 where she emerged as first runner up; Miss Emancipation 2016 – second runner up; Miss Mash Queen 2017 – first runner up; Miss Bartica Regatta 2017 – Queen; Miss Guyana Jaycees, and Miss Earth Guyana – Finalist.

During her involvement in pageantry, Miss Chapman developed a greater love for women empowerment, and it was that passion caused her to launch her own foundation in 2017 – ‘The Girl Build Girl Foundation.’ The foundation is designed to cultivate self-confidence and unconditional self-worth in young women across Guyana, and further afield. With ‘Uniting Hearts; Moulding Minds; and Achieving Dreams’ as its motto, the foundation now has a membership of 133 girls between the ages of 14 and 25.

In her remarks, Miss Chapman said it was pageantry that caused her to explore life while removing personal barriers. “When I ventured into the world of pageantry, I started dreaming, and I started going after those dreams. There were things that I wanted for myself personally, and I started setting out to do that,” she explained. The Miss World Guyana Candidate said she often use pageantry as a platform to address areas that she is passionate about such as women empowerment. “I like to empower and instill confidence in my fellow young women,” she added.

The Bartican disclosed too that she signed up for the Miss World Guyana National Competition due to fact that it is a purpose pageant which focuses on “Beauty with a Purpose.” Miss Chapman also used the opportunity to lobby residents and representatives from the commercial sector to support her journey.

With her being endorsed by the Municipality, Miss Chapman has been appointed as the Town’s Ambassador for a period of one year.