Denise Sharpe has the gift of empowering young people and she is doing her bit to ensure they have something meaningful to occupy their time.

A resident of Limlair Village, Sharpe is a full-time librarian at the Kildonan Community Centre but operates a car wash business at her house which is managed by her sibling.
Another brother has a barbershop in front of their mother’s premises.
However, on weekends she would prepare fish, chips and barbeque to sell at her roadside food stand.

In her spare time, she teaches gospel and interpretative dancing at her home, free of cost and is the founder of the Natural Beauty Pageant 2020 which was held for the very first time this year.

Gospel and interpretative dancing
Sharpe would host the dance classes at her house for the girls in the village.
Classes are held twice weekly for girls from age eight to 13 years and although she did not receive any formal training in dancing she does it to the best of her ability.
“I am not perfect but I am self-taught, I would sleep and when I get up I would say this is how this dance should be done and not just some nonsense,” she said.

She pointed out that dancing for her portrays a message and when she was involved in the Miss Berbice Pageant she coordinated the dance segment.
That segment carried a strong message of the struggles of being a mother because at times some women go into labour and don’t make it and that’s why we should always show love and appreciation for mothers.

Natural Beauty Pageant
“For me growing up life wasn’t easy and I know what’s it like to struggle and that encouraged me to want to reach out to others especially children and youths and I thought of ways in which I can achieve that goal, ” she explained.

Sharpe related that in Limlair Village the youths don’t have much to do except farming or cattle-rearing as such, they are drawn to being idle and the young ladies are having babies at a very tender age.

With that train of thought, she established the Natural Beauty 2020 Pageant three years ago to encourage young ladies to be comfortable in their own skin.
“I want them to feel good with themselves rather than hide behind makeup and what better way to embrace your natural beauty than being in such a pageant,” she said.
In that pageant, she added that all six young ladies are from the city and they did well with being their true selves without makeup and with their own hair.

“I used to look down on myself and then I realised no one can love me better than me and I snapped out of being depressed because I thought I wasn’t good enough and today I gained the respect of others by doing little things to promote others, ” she said.
The young ladies who competed in the Natural Beauty Pageant are between the ages of 18 and 25 and they were so excited for it to became an annual event for the past couple of years.

This year the Natural Beauty Pageant was held at Kildonan Community Centre on February 8 where one of the contestant’s message portrayed COVID-19 awareness.
Sharpe is also the Coordinator of the National Emancipation Show which is held annually at Number 53 Community Centre Ground in observance of Emancipation.

Other passions
The 33-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that her real passion is cooking and she is optimistic that one day she will be able to own her own restaurant.
In fact, she has started construction of a small building in the rear of the property and is hoping to have the edifice completed by this year-end.

“I have a lot of vision, things I want to do to boost the lives of others because growing up I know about struggle and how life can get at times and with that in mind I have the enthusiasm to do things to empower others,” she said.
She noted that when her building is completed she would like to cater for events and she can manage to give her business card to customers.

“I like putting food in people’s mouth, to feed them because hunger is not a good feeling and whenever I can I would cook and offer to the people, at any time you can come here and get something to eat,” she explained.
The mother of four related that whenever it’s a family member’s birthday she would cook and invite people and would even offer a meal to passers-by.
“I would prepare seven-curry and just feed people randomly and that’s me because I want to do things not only for me but for others,” she said.

Car Wash
The D and D Car Wash is done in front of Sharpe’s mother’s house and the small business was conceptualised about two years ago.
This business is managed by her brother and is a joint venture between Sharpe and her husband.

She stated that on the Corentyne they have a lot of car washes and they have to know how to keep their customers by offering a good, reliable service.
Even though there are challenges, she is still hanging on and with the novel coronavirus, business is not too bad.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine, however, that while some days they don’t even get a car to wash, other days they have quite a few.
Sharpe is the mother of four but is fostering two other children and is always trying to keep her hands busy by doing something for the children in the community.