Guyana's Miss World hopeful almost prepared--Yoogeandra
Miss Guyana/World franchise holder, Sri Yoogeandra, has said that he felt Indra Changa, who is to represent Guyana at the 1999 Miss World Pageant to be held in London, was almost prepared to participate in the contest. Changa, the first runner-up in the 1999 Miss Guyana/Universe Pageant, is expected to arrive in London on November 15. She has launched an appeal to the government and corporate community for assistance in sponsorship to enable her participation in the pageant. Changa said that so far she had accumulated less than half of her wardrobe required for the December 4, pageant which will be held at the Grand Hall Olympia. However, when contacted Yoogeandra said that Changa's evening gown for the pageant had been accounted for. He said that she had received money with which she could have bought the three other evening gowns she would need. He maintained that during the 21-day stay in London, apart from the night of the pageant, Changa would only make three official appearances; the remaining days would be spent rehearsing and swimsuit shooting. According to Changa, so far she has only received US$10,000 from Action Tyre, more than half of which had to go towards the franchise fee, and this she said, was not enough. Two Trinidadian companies, Sacha Cosmetics and Chaos have assisted her with cosmetics and swimwear. Yoogeandra disclosed that Changa had received US$1,200 from what remained after the franchise fee had been paid. He said she could have used this money to buy her gowns, but so far he has had no report on what she bought with the money. The franchise holder further said that from the beginning he was told that a group of private companies would have sponsored Changa to attend the pageant, and that this included the franchise fee. He said that his responsibility was just to facilitate Changa's acceptance into the pageant. Speaking to Stabroek News recently, Changa said it seemed as if history was repeating itself, recalling that Miss Guyana/Universe Morvinia Sobers had been in the same plight as she. Changa disclosed that they had not yet secured British visas and added that she had wanted to leave Guyana on November 12 for New York to purchase some winter clothing, but her request for a visa from the US Embassy had been turned down. However, Yoogeandra said that Changa had been turned down at the US Embassy because she did not go about it the right way. The 20-year-old beauty queen described her situation as a "very awkward" one since she did not win the Miss Guyana title earlier this year and was now campaigning to represent the country as Miss Guyana. However, she feels that she has earned the right to represent Guyana and she wants to do it with pride and dignity. She stated that persons might have a problem with that and with Yoogeandra, but expressed the view that they should realise that being an ambassador for the country was bigger than herself or Yoogeandra. She said that once she stepped onto the Miss World stage she could make Guyana be seen as a eco-tourist destination. Changa said that when she was first told that she had been chosen to represent Guyana at Miss World she thought it was an honour, but more recently she had come to realise that it was not just an honour, but a task. "It has been five months of hard work. ...recently I have been spending much time with Lester Rauseo [the Trinidadian trainer for the last Miss Guyana/Universe pageant] in modelling sessions." (Samantha Alleyne)
|