Guyanese Arian Dahlia Richmond was one of 11 young women who vied for the Miss Emerald crown in a virtual pageant held on Friday night.
Guyana’s Arian Dahlia Richmond finished in third place on Friday night when she and 10 other young women vied for the Miss Emerald International crown.
Peru’s Danae Panta was announced as the queen, while Columbia’s Giselle Archbold finished in second place when the pageant aired on YouTube.
“It’s amazing! I feel like we really and truly put Guyana on the forefront because persons didn’t expect us to show up and show out,” an ecstatic Richmond told this newspaper, while saying that she felt honoured to have placed and to let Guyana shine.
The Miss Emerald Pageant, which was launched last year, seeks to promote the preservation and protection of indigenous cultures.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pageant, coordinated by a Colombian team in the United States, took the form of a series of videos and photographs posted online via Instagram and YouTube over the course of the last several months.
National franchise holder Randy Madray had explained that some of the content focused on the preservation of
indigenous communities during the current pandemic, how they are affected, what is being done in each country and what more can be done. Each contestant also posted videos on her Instagram page that featured the culture of the indigenous people she chose to highlight, as well as advocacy for their rights.
Richmond, 21, in an interview with this newspaper, shared that she was optimistic about the event though she admitted that she had met some incredible women who she was sure would bring stiff competition.
The other contestants were Romina Colon (Venezuela), Pangoline Chigwende (Zimbabwe), Sugheidy Willie (Mexico), Lalam Teddy (Uganda), Leila Dominguez (Spain), Gabriela Gonzalez (Paraguay), and Adriana Torres (El Salvador).
Richmond noted that Miss Emerald Colombia took the initiative to create a WhatsApp group for the contestants, which for her was a rather unique way for them to communicate since they spoke different languages. Since the majority of the contestants speak Spanish, a lot of their conversations were in Spanish, and Richmond was able to understand some of what was being said because her mother teaches both Spanish and Portuguese. Besides Guyana, Uganda was the only other participating English speaking country. However, contestants who could speak English practiced the language in the group.
“The pageant focuses on the indigenous community primarily and they look at the work that you have done and the work that you are willing to do because the fact is in Guyana, our indigenous community, we do one thing and then we push them aside and we think that what we would have done is enough, the Bartica-born beauty said. “We don’t know a lot about the indigenous culture and their heritage. I’m sure we can’t speak any of their dialects. I am from Region Seven and have lots of Amerindian nieces, nephews and cousins who are of mixed Amerindian heritage. It doesn’t matter if I am a mixed Guyanese because I think being Guyanese is to be mixed and I feel that there is representation that can be done and that is the reason why I entered the pageant.”
The contestants did evening gown videos, which were combined and aired on YouTube. Contestants were asked to use a white background in their evening gown videos that would create an illusion that they were all at the same location. The 11 contestants also did videos for their indigenous and swimwear pieces.
Richmond was required to do a video on the indigenous culture in Guyana and it was among those aired.
Upon the conclusion of the pageant, Richmond suggested that the organisers may have exhibited partiality towards their national representative, Archbold, whose videos were not as strong as some of those submitted by other contestants despite her eventual placement as first runner-up. “[However], this is not the end, it’s just the beginning,” Richmond said.
The reigning Miss Guyana Culture as well as first runner-up in the Miss Caribbean Culture Pageant and Miss Bartica Regatta 2018, Richmond has for the last several years visited regions in the interior as well as Georgetown where she has been doing programmes on art and craft and public speaking as well as encouraging children to stay in school. She has collaborated with the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association on these programmes and has visited the Girl’s School on the Essequibo Coast and Sophia Detention Centre, where she assisted with counselling teens. Richmond has also assisted with youth camps in Albouystown and Bartica.
Friday night’s winner won a crown bearing real emeralds, a cash prize of US$9,000 and the opportunity for an indigenous community in her country to benefit. The team in the US will be traveling to the queen’s country after all COVID restrictions have been lifted to officially crown her as Miss Emerald International 2020. If all goes well, by next year the pageant will be held in a normal and physical setting.
