The Mr. & Miss East Rand Youth Organisation founded by 21-year-old Nonhlanhla Dalasile from Dawn Park, Boksburg, had a campaign called ‘Clean Up the East Rand’, wherein the 2021 Miss Teen East Rand finalists gathered and cleaned the Boksburg CBD (district 22) on the 20th of March.
Nonhlanhla mentions that the aim of this initiative was to give back to the community and celebrate Human Rights Day. She also states how pleasant and how much it was a dream for her to start a pageant organisation. “I’d enter pageants and model back then and every time I didn’t win I’d be hurt. I’d be confused because I did my best at everything to win titles, even my grades were good but I still wouldn’t win. During the lockdown, I realised how we as the youth had so much time on our hands and I saw that there are a lot of girls who’d love to be in the modelling industry so I thought I’d give them that opportunity, hence I started this organisation and I’m grateful to God that He chose me to lead such a project,” uttered the model. She adds that males or females between the ages of 12 to 27 are more than welcomed to enter the pageant.
The areas in which the finalists cleaned were Boksburg taxi rank, Boksburg lake, Boksburg Home Affairs, Boksburg park, Boksburg police station and all the surrounding areas of Boksburg. The founder adds that the main purpose for doing this initiative with the Miss & Mrs East Rand Youth Organisation finalists was to try and show them that being a model and a beautiful queen does not only require glam, it also requires hard work and giving back to communities in so many ways. “This industry needs one to have humility. Apart from the physical traits that models should have, I strongly believe that giving back is just as good as winning, so is having education. Therefore, social responsibility and taking care of the environment is crucial. Appearance and looks don’t matter much but caring for your community and being a good example is even better,” added Dalasile.
Nonhlanhla Ndlozi, a 12-year-old finalist from Villa Lisa Primary School who was also Miss Teen Villa Lisa 2020 was also pleased by giving back to the community. “I’m glad I could help my community by doing my part. This proves that models can do good and be confident in social responsibilities as well,” murmured Ndlozi.
By Palesa Ndinisa
