On Saturday 27th September 2014,
I joined thousands of Ghanaians and other Africans across the United Kingdom who
thronged the plush Troxy in London to witness the 2014 edition of the most
prestigious African beauty pageant show in Europe, Miss Ghana UK.
As promised by the organizers,
premier Ghanaian international event company, Akwaaba UK, the night came with
the usual pomp and pageantry the event has become known for with a host of
celebrities and prominent personalities within the African community in
attendance.
After about five rounds of
exciting yet stiff competition between sixteen young and beautiful ladies of
Ghanaian descent, then nineteen year old Miss Eloise Nana Yaa Anima Dickens who
appeared to be the crowd’s favourite was eventually crowned as Miss Ghana UK
2014.
A week ago, I met up with Miss
Eloise Dickens at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra to discuss a project
she was in the country to undertake under the auspices of the Miss Ghana UK
Foundation, the Corporate Social Investment arm of the Miss Ghana UK brand.
Our discourse ranged from her role
as an ambassador for the Miss Ghana UK Foundation and reign as the Miss Ghana
UK 2014 queen, Reading Clinics in Ghana and her tenure of office as President
of the African Caribbean Society at her university.
A second year law student of the
University of Essex, Eloise spoke confidently about her passion to study the
law with great insight, having adopted a requisite strategy to become one of
the successful lawyers of her era. She also couldn’t hide her desire to become
a change agent in the African diaspora community knowing the challenges
Africans in the diaspora are confronted with.
According to her, “the key principles guiding my reign as Miss
Ghana UK 2014 are philanthropy and volunteerism. Over the period, I have been
hugely involved in the Sickle cell awareness campaign in various
communities across the United Kingdom as well as inspiring and encouraging
under privileged youth across the United Kingdom.
In addition, I’m also passionate about partnering with various
organizations both in Ghana and the United Kingdom to provide opportunities for
young people to unearth their God given talents and abilities, realizing their
dreams and aspirations in life and also creating awareness about the essence of
empowering the girl child”.
As part of her project in Ghana, Eloise
held meetings with key stakeholders within the Ghanaian educational sector to
discuss ways of enhancing the standards of education in the country through
partnerships. With the members of her team, she is also organizing reading
clinics in a list of schools within Accra in addition to talk sessions with
students from selected schools. The team also visited the Royal Seed Orphanage
at Kosoa in the Central Region where they engaged the children in a serious of fun
yet educative activities before presenting various learning materials, food
items and clothes to the management of the orphanage.
As we brought our conversation to
an end, one thing that was obvious was Eloise’s zeal and passion to change the
world around her and use the Miss Ghana UK crown to affect the lives of several
deprived people within her society.
