Twelve mature Guyanese women over the age of 30 will showcase their talent, creativity, and professionalism, and highlight their many roles in and contributions to society when the Miss Renaissance Pageant is held in August 2017.
The delegates were sashed at a simple ceremony earlier this week at the Umana Yana. This will be the eighth year for the pageant, which is organised by Negla Brandis. The delegates are all professional women and will be going through rigorous competitions leading up to coronation night.
However, on pageant night, the delegates will be judged on the introduction, talent and evening gown segments.
Jennifer Lall Shiwbalak
Guyana Times Entertainment caught up with one of the delegates, Jennifer Lall Shiwbalak, a mother of two, who is also a teacher at the Diamond Secondary School.
Born on January 12, 1980, this professional is not a stranger to pageantry, since she won several titles as a young lady growing up. Actually, it all started while she was attending the Covent Garden Secondary and she decided to enter the Miss Covent Garden Secondary Sari Pageant.
She outshone her rivals and copped the title. That was in 1993; in 1994, she went on to win the Miss East Bank Sari Pageant. In 1995, Shiwbalak was crowned Miss Phagwah. After a four-year hiatus, she returned in 1999 to pageantry when she competed in the Miss Diwali Pageant and again, she was successful.
Her pageant résumé was boosted with the titles of Miss Queen on Light in 2000 and Miss Music Fantasia Phagwah in 2002.
Mrs Shiwbalak is a trained Class One Grade One teacher and also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education Administration from the University of Guyana. She is confident that she will do well in the pageant and as such, called on the public to support the contestants.
The elegant woman believes that the pageant will not only remind her of being in pageantry in her younger days, as she plans to use the opportunity to meet a list of professional women of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
