Miss Guyana Teen Scholar Pageant empowering young Guyanese women

Pageantry has been and continues to be the vehicle by which many young women saw their lives became the platform to reach the world’s most influential personalities.
In Guyana, one pageant that focuses on the empowerment of young Guyanese women is the Miss Guyana Teen Scholar Pageant (MGTSP), which will host its 2022 pageant on Seotember 3.

The Pepperpot Magazine recently sat down with one of the organisers of the Miss Guyana Teen Scholar Pageant, Wasim Khan, who outlined the objective of the programme.
“MGTSP is a programme where the pageant serves as the ‘graduation’. [It is] the grand finale of a two-month programme,” he explained. “The pageant offers resources, a microphone and a stage, an audience, and guidance on making the most significant impact while the programme provides our young people with the tools of education, rights, empowerment and a plan to achieve their goals.”

These characteristics, according to Khan, make the MGTSP distinct from the others.
Khan also alluded to the fact that the programme only serves to add value to the Pageantry
“I think our modules will stick with them for life and they cover adolescent health and well-being, professionalism and life skill, social and gender development, stage presence and talent development,” Khan commented during his interview.

It should be noted that young women stand to benefit significantly from the programme since a team of critical thinkers is committed to ensuring that the mandate of the Imperial House (TIH) on youth empowerment brings with it a wealth of experience.

With 20-plus years of pageant affiliation, advocacy, community development, project management and public relations skills, this combination has served TIH well in carving out the best programmes tailored for youth empowerment, including MGTSP.

Relevancy of pageantry
In some spaces, pageantry has been argued to maintain patriarchal ideologies, but Khan is adamant that the MGTSP is quite the opposite. “The pageantry industry remains relevant, despite the challenges faced as a result of the stereotypes and the challenging gender roles,”he stated, adding that MGTSP stands to benefit both the participants and all involved.
“Because we are much more than just the pageant and because of how we have tailored our programme, we can continue to sharpen the tool, develop and grow with the changes that come our way hence maintaining our relevance in this progressive world.”

COVID-19
He explained that the team did face challenges with the pandemic, but they were able to innovate and adapt. “When COVID-19 hit Guyana in March 2020, things were already in motion for MGTSP2020. Everything came to a standstill and the team went back to the table, altered that year’s programme and came up with a ‘Digital University’. A fully virtual programme than ran for two months and concluded with live Zoom graduation,” he explained. “ In 2021, we went ahead again and hosted Guyana’s first fully virtual pageant with a live Coronation broadcast from the studios of NCN. This is evidence that we adapt to whatever comes our way.”

According to him, the pageant does have a future and thus the reach of the pageant would be expansive and the value of the scholarship programme would be increased. However, for success to be achieved, support is needed.

Encouragement to young women
Khan shared some sage words for young women who are intentional about making a difference.
“Find yourselves in places/groups/ activities that allow you to express yourselves without the fear of being judged. Environments that support and nurture will grow your confidence hence helping you to control your own life while protecting your rights. Apply for MGTSP2023. We can lay the foundation for you,” Khan was careful to disclose during his interview.

The MGTSP is a skills-based training programme for the social and gender development of adolescent girls. Candidates of this programme compete in a pageant for a scholarship that covers their expenses in any tertiary education institution in Guyana during their year of reign. MGTSP is the flagship programme, and the crown jewel of The Imperial House (TIH), a Guyanese non-profit social enterprise organisation.