BY Grant Moyo
Reigning Miss Super Globe Africa Jemima Mandemwa (pictured) considers herself fortunate to have won numerous local and international modelling accolades last year. The achievement has worked well for the runway model who has been involved in progressive women and youth empowerment projects.
Mandemwa’s modelling career started at the age of six when she won Little Miss Sunshine at a community pageant in 2006. At the age of 15, she strutted down the runway at the Matabeleland Fashion Week. In 2018, she made it into the Miss Tourism Bulawayo top 10 and in 2019, she was 1st Princess at both Miss Nust as well as Miss Teen Zimbabwe.
The same year, she was also crowned Miss I Am Africa Zimbabwe and Miss Super Globe Zimbabwe. The success took her to Miss Super Globe World in Dubai where she was crowned Miss Super Globe Africa and Miss Super Globe World 1st runner-up.
“2019 was a great year for me. I received quite a number of titles, but most importantly I was crowned as Miss Super Globe Zimbabwe in July. I represented the country at Miss Super Globe World in Dubai, UAE, in October where I got two titles, namely Miss Super Globe 1st runner-up and Miss Super Globe Africa,” Mandemwa said.
“Competition was stiff, the other contestants were equally good. I competed with international models from countries like Japan, India, Sweden, Kenya, Zambia, Algeria and Moldova, to name but a few. I must say the specific element that made me stand out was how proud I was of my nationality. I made sure that I placed Zimbabwe on the world map.”
The runway model admits that her height was also an ultimate distinctive quality which came as an added advantage for easy identification on stage as well as portraying of her beauty and talent.
She regards her ability to walk remarkably on the ramp, a unique smile, confidence, and ability to answer any question within a short space of time as part of the outstanding qualities that made her outwit other contestants.
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Beyond the runway, Mandemwa is confident that she has been abiding to her roles and duties in the society in accordance with the Miss Super Globe brand, which prioritises preservation of the environment, girl empowerment and model grooming.
This is better explained by the projects and charity events she has been taking part in, that include her girl empowerment programme, “I love black girls”, mainly focusing on making girls reach their maximum potential in different socio-economic fields.
She achieved her goal-oriented programme through high school tours, receiving invites from schools like Townsend High in Bulawayo.
“My reign has been mainly focused on girl child empowerment. This can be best described by the empowerment programmes that I have been involved in. Out of my own creation, I have managed to work with girls in high school on certain areas which include self-love, career guidance and life skills. I have also taken part in female-related programmes at Nust where I’m a Finance student, as well as in my community,” she said.
“On International Women’s Day I got to be a speaker at a school programme, which intended to help ladies on campus to be able to define identity and set out reminders on how strong we are as females. I have also managed to work on a breast cancer awareness campaign with Plush Beauty, where I didn’t only attend to impact knowledge, but to learn from inspirational people and representatives from the National Aids Council.”
The reigning Miss Super Globe Africa has been a guest in a couple of television programmes where she spoke much about her advocacy work. After graduating as a professional model at Fingers Academy, she has been taking time out to groom aspiring female models particularly teenagers through Miss Teen Intellect Zimbabwe, a beauty pageant she runs.
During the outbreak of “Vuzu” parties where teenagers were exposed to sexual immorality as well as drug and alcohol abuse, she successfully worked with Khaya Arts Productions on a campaign they conducted to put an end to the prohibited parties. Her other short-term programme focused on working with the elderly through provision of necessities and cleaning Entembeni Old People’s Home in Bulawayo.
In improving young people’s entrepreneurial skills and hers, Mandemwa has been working on business grooming with the local chapter of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) organisation called JCI Khumalo. Business dialogues have been conducted through usage of online platforms like Zoom.
“We conducted a meeting with JCI Khumalo on the coronavirus-themed Riding the Covid-19 Curve. This was done on Zoom, an online platform for business. We discussed how the world is likely to be after Covid-19 and how we are likely to operate our business units,” she said.
Her next step is to work with the Environmental Management Agency in addressing problematic environmental issues. The runway model is also keen to solve some of the Sustainable Development Goals. As a proud girl child advocate, she looks forward to empowering girls by creating accessible platforms where educational materials are readily available. She plans to engage quite a number of organisations in empowering girls in rural and remote areas where help is most needed.
The future holds greatness, more lessons and happiness for Mandemwa. With the runway model certain that she will be crowned Miss World in a year God deems right, she has already had quite a blissful start to her international career.
l Grant Moyo is an innovative media personality and creative artist. Follow him on Twitter: @TotemGrant
