THE old adage embedded in the folklore adage goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
ALOIS VINGA
However catching a glimpse of the young lady who dominated the disability pageants for close to half a decade may suddenly lead to the change of definitions of beauty as her qualities are uncontestable.
Speaking in sign language on a late Friday afternoon, the angelic-looking Kudakwashe Mapeture (KM) caught up with the NewsDay (ND) correspondent and had the following conversation.
ND: Give me a brief background of yourself. KM: I am Kudakwashe Mapeture 22 years old, have six siblings and did primary education at Dudley Hall school before proceeding to Emerald Hill School for the Deaf for secondary education.
ND: How does it feel being Miss Zimbabwe and what motivated you to go for the title? KM: There is no sweeter feeling like tasting the glory of being Miss Zimbabwe. I was motivated by the dream of proving to the world that while we are viewed as disabled, we are not different. As I grew up I just wanted to be a super model. I would save my pocket money and use it to purchase magazines just to see and admire those models, so this activity also inspired me to propel for greater and dizzy heights.
ND: May you explain how you entered the beauty industry and your journey? KM: I became Miss Disability Zim 2011, Miss Deaf Zimbabwe in 2012 and I represented Zimbabwe at this Miss Deaf World in the Czech Republic, and this was my biggest achievement. Although I did not win, I made it into the top five out of 42 contestants. However, due to lack of financial support I have not been able to achieve some of the projects that I had planned to help some of the deaf orphans in my community.
ND: What lessons did you learn during the time you represented Zimbabwe? KM: I learnt a lot when I represented Zimbabwe especially model grooming, makeup, skin, diet and seeing other beautiful girls from across the globe made me more confident.
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ND: What are your aspirations and message you would like to send to the people out there? KM: I am training to be an Early Childhood teacher for the deaf. I hope that one day the title Miss Deaf is going to be taken seriously in Zimbabwe and all modelling organisers will also consider the potential, our modelling prowess and see the potential we have both on entertainment as well as boosting tourism. I also hope that one of these days Zimbabwe will campaign to host the Miss World Deaf Beauty pageantry.
It is not always about being a winner, but is a journey towards achieving one’s dreams .My advice to the deaf people out there is that disability does not mean inability, stand up and prove to the world that you can make a difference.
