As a child growing up in Berbice Leanna Damond used to climb trees and participate in bush cooks. But on Saturday night this tomboy was crowned Miss Guyana/ Universe 2003.
Stabroek News recently caught up with the 25-year-old beauty. With the crown perched on her head and wearing a two-piece orange pants suit Damond recalled how she had grown up in Tucber Park, New Amsterdam in a Government Housing Scheme. She lived with her aunt, her brother, Richard and sister Candacie. While their parents were away in Venezuela. Her mother died two years ago and Damond said she would have been proud to witness her achievement.
Speaking of her childhood days, Leanna said, “Oh I had lots of fun, myself and the other young persons in the neighbourhood.
We used to get into a lot of mischief (laugh) but we had lots of fun growing up. We use to be climbing trees having cooks in the backyard, things like that but we had lots of fun.”
Her life changed when she became a student of President’s College.
She described those days “as quite reserved, they were part of the difficult times that I had in my life, being away from home that was very difficult for me and not being able to go home as often as I would have liked to. But all in all it worked out to make me a better person, because I became so determined that I must excel that I tried not to focus on the things I was not privileged to have and focused on achieving my goal and that was to pass my CXC subjects.”
And what are some of her strengths? “I believe I have strength in having peace of mind, I am quite comfortable with myself, who I am and what I believe in. I am God fearing, so I am comfortable and at peace with myself almost every second of the day.
So being at peace causes you to be calm in the way that you approach things... So I believe that is my major strength.”
And weakness? In a whisper Leanna said, “Sometimes I tend to be critical too (laughs).”
The queen’s favourite movie is `Barber Shop’ and her favourite singer is Celine Deon who she said has a beautiful voice and she attempts to “imitate her and practice with the notes.” And she feels one day she may become a great singer, “you never know”.
She describes herself as being “very humble, honest and a very peaceful person. A person who tries to be true to herself and everyone else around her as much as she can.”
Her motto is “believe in yourself and reach for your goal.”
She was high in praise for her primary school teachers “because they really did a lot for me.
That’s where I started with.... this competitive nature and this determination and when I went on to President’s College, my teachers... always encouraged us to study hard.”
She also thanked her family members, neighbours, staff of the National Bank of Industry and Commerce, the franchise holder, Odinga Lumumba and his team and members of the press for the support she has received.
Leanna says “Being crowned Miss Guyana/ Universe is totally exhilarating, totally.”
Even though lots of things are quite new to her she is really happy that she has won and has the support of all twenty-three delegates who were part of the pageant.
Speaking about the pageant night Leanna said after answering the question on her platform she felt that she would not have made it to the final five.
“The first question on my platform, it was so easy but then I just don’t know what happened. I guess ...nervous, I really was not I guess, then I was listening to the crowd a little and got a bit distracted but I was able to pull myself together thank God for that.”
Her platform is `conserving our biological diversity, how it helps us and the rest of the world.’
Leanna was a frontrunner in the pageant from day one but the queen said she did not allow all the buzz to go to her head.
“Though I read the reports I tried not to allow it to cause me to become complacent, I looked at my weak points and I tried to strengthen myself, my inner person and also the way I walked and responded to questions.
I really made an effort to improve myself totally and I tried not focus too much on what was being said in the press.”
Did all the press coverage boost her confidence? “A little yes, but I am a very humble person. I knew that the other girls, most of them, were not getting the kind of attention that I was getting so I tried not to, you know, get all caught up in this feeling of.... exhilaration as if I am above them.
I tried as much to work along with them and make them feel better also about themselves.”
And what would she say to the critics of the former contestants in relation to their intelligence? “I would say to the critics that they should have come out and encouraged the young ladies, give them a helping hand where necessary and we would have done much better on pageant night.”
The queen feels with all the help she hopes to receive in improving her “competitiveness” she would be able to “put Guyana on the platform” later this year at the Miss Universe pageant in Panama.
But should she not win the Miss Universe crown, Leanna says for the remainder of her reign she would focus on being involved in charity and do things that would not allow her to be in the background, “because as Miss Guyana I believe that you should be seen and you should also serve the country, serve in your community.... So I would be focusing on being at service.”
She will also be returning to the University of Guyana to complete her final year in economics.