By Style Reporter
Recently-crowned Miss Gweru Tadiwanashe Blessing Mhaka says the pageant was a launch pad to her modelling career as she has vowed to walk on the ramp in pageants of a bigger magnitude.
The 19-year-old model shrugged off a challenge from nine other contestants when she was crowned Queen of the City of Progress at the pageant that was organised by Image Modelling Agency last weekend.
The first princess was 20-year-old Agnes Michelle Svosve, a Human Resources Management student at Midlands State University, while another teenager Respina Ruvarashe Mada was crowned the second princess.
Mhaka acknowledged that the contest was tight, but was optimistic that she would fare well in other pageants having set sights on national and international contests.
“I am targeting Miss Zimbabwe in the future: it will be a great experience to work with them,” Mhaka told Standard Style last Tuesday.
“That’s the main pageant that I’m targeting in the near future, but I would also to go beyond and take part in international pageants.”
The young model, who has just completed her A Levels, said modelling was in her DNA after she was inspired by her aunt.
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“My aunt inspired me to become a model since she was once a model herself although she never took it to higher levels,” she said.
“Besides that, I always had the dream to become a top model from way back when I was young.”
Born and raised in Gweru though she had a brief stay in Bulawayo, Mhaka is not new on the ramp.
“I made my debut by taking part in Miss Gweru 2018 where I was one in the Top 5, but I could not make it,” she said.
“I was also in the Miss Tourism 2019 Top 5, but unfortunately I didn’t make it again. Due to hard work, I have been crowned Miss Gweru and I am happy with that.
“I’m very proud to be Miss Gweru 2019 and it means a lot to me. I have been waiting for this moment for so long, I am very happy.”
The Gweru queen said she almost threw in the towel, but due to a supportive family, she had to give it a try.
“I almost gave up thinking that maybe I didn’t have the qualities necessary to become a model because I had been trying for so long,” she said.
“I am lucky that I am surrounded by supportive souls, my family is very supportive and I have supportive friends.”
She hailed her boss Mavis Koslak of Image Modelling Agency.
“I would like to thank all senior models who supported me throughout and not forgetting the queen of queens Mavis Koslak. She has been my pillar of strength,” she said.
The queen has plans for her city.
“I’m looking to grow the community in different ways. I’ll seek out advice and help from the City Fathers and City Mothers, the people who really know what the city is lacking, so we work together to help improve the community,” she said.
“I would also like to reach out to orphanages, homes for people with disabilities and the old.”
She said most of her peers were failing to make it into the modelling industry due to their parents’ negative attitude towards the trade.
“We have problems with parents who have the mentality that modelling is bad for young girls. Modeling is a talent so they should give their children the chance to participate and showcase their talents,” she said.
The model said she was looking forward to set up a modelling school to groom upcoming models.
Mhaka is the eldest in a family of three. She lost her father last year and her mother stays in Harare. She stays in Gweru with her aunt.
