With her flushed face and eager eyes, 18-year-old Sheldyne Ferreira of Rose Hall, Berbice presents a picture of pure innocence.

But within minutes of speaking to her one realises that she is no child and she knows what she is about.

The pretty first year accounting student at the University of Guyana, Tain Campus, was crowned Miss Rose Hall on November 2.

With a smooth complexion and rich, flowing black hair anyone would give Ferreira the thumbs up to be one of the five finalists.

However it is not just a pretty face and nice complexion that wins a crown.

Asked what her platform is the young woman said the `The Cries of the street children.' She related that she is concerned about the increasing number of street children in Guyana and believes that they should be given every opportunity to become future leaders.

But what will she be doing as a person in answering the cries of street children? The young beauty queen said she would educate the young mothers. Through her active participation in the Rose Hall Town Sports and Youth Club, and her own volunteer work with street children at the Camal's Home for children and battered women at Albion, Corentyne she might be able to answer the cries of the forgotten children of Guyana.

Ferreira is the fifth of sixth children and up to last year was the baby of the family and was not too pleased to lose that place.

"I was actually upset, I cried when my mother informed us that she was pregnant, but I have gotten used to it," she said. The young beauty thinks she has a very good chance of winning the crown since she is a "natural Guyanese" and she is intelligent.

In her spare time she enjoys yoga, reading, playing chess and sketching.

20-year-old Amanda Barnwell has a beautiful smile and is always concerned about her image. For instance she was not too keen on having Stabroek News' photographer take a picture because she felt she was not dressed properly or maybe her hairstyle wasn't right. Whatever it was she did all she could to escape standing in front of the camera but she finally relented after some amount of coaxing.

Born under the Zodiac star of Libra, Barnwell is the eldest of three children and stands at 5 feet 7 inches. She lives in Bartica and was the first runner-up in last year's Miss Tourism pageant. Why is she in the Miss Guyana/Universe pageant?

"Well I am going up for Miss Guyana for the experience to get to know my fellow Guyanese and to travel a lot and meet people. That is my main goal."

She chose racial discrimination in Guyana as her platform which is a very important topic in the country today.

How does she plan on tackling it?

"I think I need to talk about it because in Guyana we have all the ethnic races and we are not living as one............. What I want to say to all Guyanese is that if you cut us we all have one blood."

Should she win the crown how is she going to promote racial harmony? "Well, first of all what I think I would do is that I would try to go on television programmes and have people of different races with me and we will talk about different topics and show others it does not really matter what race you are.. we are all one."

She is enjoying the run up to the pageant and says she can make it in the top five. She is a forest officer at the Guyana Forestry Commission's Bartica branch.

She has a body that most would die for and that is no exaggeration. Seventeen-year-old Deslyn Stacy Jack just seems to 'have it going on' with the curves in the right places.

Jack is one of the two 17-year-olds in the pageant but she feels she has every chance of winning the crown. "I have a good chance because I think the key to this thing is being yourself, you have to portray an image that is you...."

Living in Meadowbrook Gardens, Jack completed her secondary school in Trinidad & Tobago and is now pursuing studies at Global Technology. And come next week she will be employed as an intern at the same location. She is one of three children for her mother but one of eleven for her father.

Jack thinks she has something to offer in the pageant. "I think I have so much to give back to Guyana and I am proud to be Guyanese and everything I do I put my best foot forward......."

For her platform Jack will be dealing with homeless people and child abuse. She said she has already started doing some research on the two issues and she plans to get the business sector involved in helping those that are suffering.

"First we need to find a place to put these people, but first I need to get the facts right about the situation." And should she not win Jack pledges to continue with the project as she likes helping people. Jack stands at 5 ft 3 inches and she advises youths her age to always put their best foot forward in all their endeavours and take advantage of opportunities.

Eighteen-year-old Latoya Pereira is definitely pretty and she feels that she is such a natural beauty that there is no need for make-up. But she knows that in the world of beauty pageants there is no way she could run from make-up. Slim and trim with a beautiful voice, Pereira said she would get around to being comfortable with the make-up and by the time it is pageant night she will be `bang on'. The Turkeyen resident is a student at the International University where she is majoring in computer science.

However, her life's ambition is to become a lawyer and she plans pursuing law at the end of the present programme.

She is the eldest of three children and has tried her hand at modelling before and had won the Miss Guyana Talented Teen pageant in 1999.

And why Miss Guyana? "I think it is an opportunity to showcase myself as an individual... I think I have a good chance at winning as long as I continue being enthusiastic and work hard."

Peace and unity is her platform. "First of all I think there is lack of peace and unity in Guyana and I think this situation affects me personally. So first I have looked at it from a personal point of view and now I am looking it as something social that affects everyone in this country." Should she win the crown how does she plan on approaching the issue? "I have strong religious beliefs and I also respect other religions and persons of other ethnic race. I am multi-ethnic and with that I would try to let people know that in order to move they should respect each other's beliefs and culture so there will be peace."

She has started to speak with different leaders both political and religious. She feels if she gets through to the leaders they would in turn make an impact on their followers.

She hopes to have a television programme soon and will use it to make an impact on the population. In her spare time she loves to sing and dance.