Online Reporter
Liberty Dube
Entertainment Correspondent
AFTER a hiatus of over 15 years, the Mr and Miss Rural Zimbabwe pageant is set to regain its former glory, with a new organising team at the helm.
The search for aspiring models to compete in the provincial pageant in Manicaland is already underway.
The Miss Rural pageant initially took the entertainment and modelling circuits by storm, attracting numerous beauties from rural Zimbabwe and showcasing untapped beauty and talent.
Mental Voices Trust, the organisers of the revamped pageant, have announced that the search for Mr and Miss Rural Zimbabwe Manicaland has begun.
Eligible participants include girls and women aged 18-25.
The Weekender Entertainment has learnt that the models should hail from Buhera, Chimanimani, Chipinge, Makoni, Mutare, Mutasa, Nyanga and Rusape districts.
The Mr and Miss Rural Zimbabwe pageant, revived after a 15-year hiatus, is gaining traction with provincial pageants already held in Masvingo, Matabeleland North, and Matabeleland South.
The pageant’s stringent eligibility criteria require contestants to be unmarried, childless, residing in 100 percent rural settings, sporting natural hair, and having maximum dress size of 38.
Organisers are keen to emphasise that the pageant is exclusively for rural participants, barring urban and growth point chancers.
Recent provincial winners include Yolanda Nkomo (Matabeleland South) and Privilege Sibanda (Matabeleland South’s Mr Rural), Mitchell Ngwenya (Matabeleland North) and Blessing Mpofu (Matabeleland North’s Mr Rural), as well as Daphne Maluleke (Masvingo’s Miss Rural) and Lovemore Mapfura Nyanyira (Masvingo’s Mr Rural).
Sipho Mazibuko, the head of the Mr and Miss Rural Zimbabwe, said the pageant’s primary objective is to provide rural youth with equal opportunities for exposure, akin to their urban counterparts, who participate in renowned pageants like Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss Earth.
“I tried to fulfill the Millennium Goal of Gender Equality in my own small idea without realising that the idea would spread like wildfire.
“I wanted the rural girl and boy to compete among themselves with no artificial additives such as makeup, weaves, stilettos, eyelashes, Brazilian hair, fancy suits, among other
things.
“They showed their pure natural African beauty and did the Question and Answer segment in Tonga, TjiKalanga, IsiXhosa, Ndau, Tshangani, Venda, Sotho, Karanga Zezuru and isiNdebele. I must say the provincial editions that we have conducted so far are moving on very well.
“We are looking forward to having a successful search in Manicaland. We will be holding awareness campaigns that depict problems faced by rural communities such as environment, HIV and AIDS, ICT and anti-drug and substance,” she said.
Mazibuko is a modelling guru and businesswoman.
She is the founder of Esteemed Youths in Business Zimbabwe, as well as the co-founder of Miss Rural Africa.
She is the founder of Miss Urban and Mr Urban Zimbabwe.
The newly crowned Mr and Miss Rural Zimbabwe winners are expected to assume the role of cultural ambassadors, showcasing Zimbabwe’s rich traditional heritage globally.
This initiative aims to boost the country’s cultural tourism and generate revenue through the promotion of its unique cultural identity.
Moreover, the winners will play a pivotal role in identifying rural girl and boy children in need of educational support.
Many rural children lack the financial resources to access education, perpetuating illiteracy rates in these areas. By highlighting these challenges, the winners will contribute to efforts aimed at decreasing illiteracy rates.
Furthermore, the winners are tasked with identifying and supporting girl children who are victims of forced early marriages. This critical initiative aims to raise awareness about the plight of these young girls and provide them with the necessary support to escape such situations.
Through their ambassadorial roles, the Mr and Miss Rural Zimbabwe winners will, not only promote Zimbabwe’s cultural heritage, but also drive positive change in the lives of rural children and communities.
“The winners and participants will help decrease the number of child marriages and possible maternal deaths of the girl child. They should also source and distribute sanitary ware. More than 62 percent of rural girls in Zimbabwe cannot afford sanitary pads, hence, some resort to missing out on school every month.
“As a pageant, we stand firmly and in full support of President Mnangagwa and Government’s efforts to fight drugs and substance abuse, in according with the plan above.
“We are fully committed to ensuring that Miss Rural and Mr Rural Zimbabwe helps to shine a light on this issue and introduce a platform for healthy recreational service for our precious young people of Zimbabwe,” added Mazibuko.
