Months after she copped the coveted Miss Guyana Emancipation 2016 crown Delisha Wright is still getting used to her role, but she vows to use her newfound position to help young women and children.
Not prepared to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, the young queen in an interview with The Scene would only reveal that she is working on a project that will empower young women which she hopes to execute by the end of the year.
And while she works on the project Delisha, who is also a singer, is focused on the E-Networks Spotlight competition and she is more than likely be a contestant in the next Miss Guyana World pageant.
“What I really like about these pageants; it’s not only about your appearance but you can also show your intellect and overall you let the world see your power and education as a woman,” she said in the recent interview.
She reveals that in the run-up to the August 16, Miss Guyana Emancipation pageant she was given the opportunity to develop an information technology project which not only benefited the youths she presented it to, but along with the entire pageant experience, left her more empowered.
“Winning the Miss Emancipation Pageant is overwhelming. I’ve been in pageants before: the Miss Daughter of Zion which I competed in twice and placed the second time around. Almost every day random people would stop me and say, ‘I saw you in the papers’. I’m still trying to get accustomed to being in the spotlight but I’m trying to make the best of it,” she said.
Delisha’s IT project won the award for Best Project at the pageant. She and Kipany Jordan, one of the other contestants, did presentations on technology.
“I focused on typing, the jobs available in the technology field, the importance of computers in today’s society and computers in the school system,” she said.
The contestants did their presentations at the Sophia Community Centre, to first to third form students. Delisha shared that in her presentation she encouraged the students preparing for streaming to choose a stream that which has Information Technology as a subject since this is a wide field with readily available jobs. The contestants also spoke with the students of Leonora Secondary School.
In preparation for the pageant the contestants practiced on their walk with Miracle Hilliman (the first to win the Miss Guyana Emancipation) and Latisha Chan (a member of the Miss Guyana Eman-cipation Committee). Training, Delisha said, was intense and included lecture sessions based on African History by university professor Dr Norman Ng-A-Qui.
And even though she worked hard Delisha said she doubted herself consistently. “I didn’t believe I was a frontrunner. I felt intimidated being surrounded by UG graduates with degrees and thought to myself that I’m only a simple typist clerk. I belittled myself and I advise persons to never do that. Always be confident,” she said.
“I went home with more than the crown that night. Not only did I gain friends but we bonded; we’re a sisterhood.” Delisha has also gained self-confidence.
‘Younger ones’
Delisha also wants to assist younger children because of what she sees daily.
“I also want to work on a project to help the younger ones. Many times I’m in a bus headed to work and the buses pass the children on the road. The drivers complain about the small money… [but] it’s getting late for them to get to school and they’re there still standing on the road. It could be dangerous for them,” she said.
“Only recently I had to put a schoolchild on a bus… It was getting late and the driver only stopped because he thought I was going too. Then he started complaining after he realized that I wasn’t. I don’t know what I’m going to call this project but I really want to do something for the smaller children.”
As regards the E-Networks competition Delisha is one of the contestants in the top ten. In fact, she applied for the competition sometime before she did for the pageant and soon after winning she got a call that she made it into the competition. The Spotlight Competition showcases Guyana’s talents and started with more than 100 persons. The judges: Christian Sobers, Russell Lancaster and Alana Seebarran assist the contestants with their talents. Singers, dancers, a contortionist and a speed painter (artist) are among the talented Guyanese competing.
The Capricorn-born queen and former Leonora Secondary School student works as a typist clerk at the Leonora Technical and Vocational Centre. Her foremost challenge is that these competitions and work can be time-consuming but she added that the tremendous support she gets from family and friends encourages her to live her dreams.
“Winning the pageant was the most memorable moment for me. Hearing ‘the winner of the Miss Emancipation Pageant 2016 is Delisha Wright’ was awesome but even more so, hearing the screams of my family and friends as they announced me the winner is what I’ll never forget. I’ll always cherish that.”
And if she wins the $2.5 million prize in the Spotlight Competition, she plans to invest it by going into business and also helping her sister further her studies.
Still indecisive on the area in which she wants to read for a degree, the queen has managed to narrow it down to Journalism or Law.
Her free time would see her singing (R&B, Contemporary, Gospel and Conscious music), dancing, socializing and reading.
Over the years she would have written songs for the annual District Festival of Arts (a church competition). She has already a good number of compilations of her own songs which she plans on releasing someday before or after she opens her own recording studio.
