Newly crowned Ms Guyana Renaissance Simone Beckles says that she wants to be a role model for other women her age, and to do this she plans to form a club in the near future.
This club, which will be named after the pageant, will comprise past contestants in its initial stages, and later other women over 28 years of age will be allowed to join.
Recently in an interview with The Scene the elated Beckles said that the aim of the club will be to raise funds to give back to society and she has already pinpointed the Alpha Children’s Home in New Amsterdam as one of the prospective beneficiaries of the club’s fund-raising efforts.
This club will also be like a “motherly club” where battered women could garner help and support.
Three Saturdays ago, the 35-year-old Beckles who is the Assistant Commissioner of the VAT and Excise Department, Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), after hours of tough competition prevailed over nine other women.
Simone told The Scene that winning the crown was an accomplishment for her, and even although she dreamt of being a queen, she never thought it would have become a reality.
She alluded to the fact that the recent pageant was one where all the contestants were accomplished and well educated, so everyone had an equal chance of grabbing the crown.
Although nervousness consumed her, Simone said she wanted to put on a good show and she did just that. No one in the audience could tell that she was nervous as she always had a broad smile on her face and just elegantly glided through the competition.
Beckles made sure that she showed confidence while showcasing her outfits, and also made sure that her talent piece – a dance – was nothing short of perfect. This segment was her favourite because through her dance – Guyana the Beautiful – she wanted to depict that Guyanese can still celebrate after a hard day’s work, despite the hardships they may have faced.
But even though she would have done her best, the queen revealed that she was shocked when she was chosen as one of the final four, since she felt that all the other women did exceptionally well up to that point. She recalls that it was difficult to tell who the front-runners were from the crowd which was applauding loudly for everyone.
“It was at this point that I told myself that it’s time for competition, and that I have to be serious and apply my knowledge in answering the final question
