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“I will do my best to make my family and country proud”- Imarah Radix Miss Guyana World 2009 Imarah Kensha Radix By Mondale SmithAmidst mixed reactions to Grenada-born Imarah Kensha Radix being selected and recently crowned as Miss Guyana World 2009 she says “My mum is Guyanese and I am too, and I’m proud of my heritage; that’s why I’m representing 83,000 square miles of beautiful country.”Above the negativity, the 24-year-old is “incredibly honoured and humbled” to be Guyana’s beauty ambassador on the world stage. She wings out on Tuesday (November 3) for London, England, where the 59th Miss World pageant begins. Her next stop is South Africa for several engagements and competitions before the final of the Miss World pageant on December 12.She says “I want to show that Guyana is a serious contender on the world stage and raise the standard for future contestants.”“Ever since I was a little girl I always played dress up and dreamt of being a queen. Thanks to my grandmother and mother’s encouragement and inspiration I believe that all things are possible.”Never in her wildest imaginings did she ever fathom that one day she would have the incredible opportunity to represent Guyana internationally. Apart from being among the more qualified local beauties that entered online for the pageant, she has qualified as the best candidate this year for her eloquence, knowledge on world issues and her personality.Imarah has dual citizenship (Grenada and Guyana) and has been living here since 2000. She was selected through the online process by franchise holder Ken Chung and like the other past queens, “promises to the best of her ability, to do her family proud and represent Guyana as a cultural and tourism ambassador, showcasing to the world all that Guyana has to offer not only as an eco-tourism destination but as a country rich in its own diverse heritage and culture.”Explaining, she listed that one of the main reasons that she chose to take part in the Miss Guyana World online search was because the motto of the Miss World Organization is beauty with a purpose. “This really appealed to me because it is a humanitarian pageant with a huge emphasis on Charity work.”She noted too that in Guyana, the volume of pageants that people are subjected to on a yearly basis has caused many to become jaded, hence the undervaluing of the Miss World Pageant in the eyes of society.As far as one can recall, no other Miss Guyana World contestant has ever entered the Miss World ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ contest, which challenges the contestants to take up charitable projects to make a difference in their community or city, but Radix is doing that this year.These projects will be submitted to the Miss World judges and seen by millions on satellite television on the night of the Miss World Final. Imarah has undertaken three charity projects all with funding from Digicel and GT&T. Her first project was to feed 250 disadvantaged elderly people and children at the Meten-Meer-Zorg mosque. This is an ongoing project that she undertook annually since the passing of her grandmother who taught her the importance and blessings gained from charitable work, particularly for the less fortunate.She also gave a motivational talk to the youth of Tiger Bay through the Varqa Foundation at the School of the Nations on the importance of education. Further she has vowed to dedicate her time for her year’s reign to helping raise the standard of education by teaching many of these young people.She is also scheduled to feed the babies and toddlers of D’Urban Backlands where she occasionally helps out.Through the Kross Kolor family, the beauty ambassador has perfected her singing talent to compete in the talent section of the international segment of the Miss World pageant. Her wardrobe will include the creations of local designers Lou Ann Jackson, Randy Madray, Rhonda Dunbar and Vashtie Harlequin.King’s Jewellery World has donated her a gift of gold and wood to be auctioned at the first grand charity ball at the Grosvenor Hotel in Park Lane, London, to raise money for the variety international children’s fund which will go towards surgical, nutritional and educational programmes in Haiti, Palau, the Philippines, India and Ghana.