Chronicle Editor
Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Correspondent
Newly-crowned Royal Miss Vithikazi, Chidadiso Francesca Mbazo, has her eyes set on the Miss Albinism crown and has expressed optimism about owning it.
The 19-year-old said she gained confidence after clinching her first crown last Saturday which she said was the stepping stone into the modelling realm.
“I was so excited when I was crowned Royal Miss Vithikazi last Saturday. I believe this is a stepping stone into the world of pageantry and the start of many great things and crowns that I’m going to win in the coming years.
“Interestingly, I hadn’t planned to contest because I had seen the poster some months earlier and didn’t make much of it. When I came across it again two weeks back, I thought it would be a nice experience if I contested and made it a trial run to Miss Albinism. I wasn’t bent on winning, but it somehow happened,” said Mbazo.
As a person living with albinism, she said winning Miss Albinism would help her advocate for the recognition of people with albinism in rural areas.
“I’ve been doing a lot of advocacy through my arts and working with NGOs. The reason why I entered Miss Albinism is that that way, I can do more than what I’ve been doing if I have the title. I’ll make sure that first of all, I represent people with albinism in all spheres as their national brand ambassador.
“Secondly, I plan to help people with albinism in the rural areas as they make up 90 perecent of the entire albinism community but they’re mostly sidelined. You notice that most of the time, the ones in urban areas benefit from sunscreen/sunhat sponsorship while those in the rural areas need the most help as the sun affects them most,” she said.
The beauty added that she plans to run campaigns in schools to ensure that all schools have large print textbooks and other facilities to cater for people with her condition.
“I personally struggled at school as they didn’t have large print textbooks and I couldn’t see properly on the blackboard,” she said.
Miss Albinism is set to take place in Harare today.
Mbazo said her modelling journey began when she was in high school.
“My modelling journey started off when I was pretty young. I came second at a pageant in high school. I always wanted to train and become a professional model so in mid-March this year, I enrolled at a modelling school (Fervid Model Management) and I’m graduating this month.
“It hasn’t been easy because the training was intense and I had to make sure I attended all my classes every week which was really hard seeing I had a lot of commitments.”
Other than modelling, Mbazo is a professional writer, talk show host, spoken word artist, actress, SRHR defender, feminist and disability rights advocate. – @SeehYvonne
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