March 28, 2010 The Okanagan Sunday – kelowna
by Tara Miller
From winner of a pageant at her high school in India to competing in the Miss World Canada Pageant in Vancouver in 2010, 23 year old Dona Sharma had Kelowna as one of her pit stops along the way.
Miss World Canada will be crowned in Vancouver on May 7 and the winner will receive a trip to Vietnam in November to compete in the Miss World Pageant with 120 other contestants from around the world.
Sharma, a student in Vancouver in UBC’s Biotechnology program and hopeful future med student said “I knew about these pageants when I was a kid, it was always a fun thing for me to watch but I never thought I would do it, it was never a conscious decision.”
A last minute decision, Sharma entered after her mother sent her the link to the Miss World Canada Facebook page. “I heard it was in Vancouver for the first time and I got this link the night before the auditions. I thought, it doesn’t hurt to try out for the audition so I got a picture and typed up a bio and tried out.”
Sharma is graduating from her program at UBC this spring so the timing couldn’t be better.
“I felt like this is a chance and I like doing these kinds of things. In high school as an exchange student I liked representing my country and because of those experiences I knew I would enjoy this. So I tried out and the judges told me right away that they liked me.”
One of the reasons that Sharma was attracted to this particular pageant was because the philosophy behind it was different from other pageants she had seen. For over 25 years the pageant has followed the theme of “Beauty with a Purpose” making charity fundraising a large part of their mandate down through each individual contestant. As a result they have raised over $400 million for children’s charities around the world.
“Over the last year or two I have been doing a lot of volunteer work. Through the Red Cross and at the UBC Hospital. This pageant is strongly affiliated with the Variety Club charity. People have this perception that it’s all swimsuits and girls that don’t have much brains, it’s a stereotypical image.”
Sharma says the organizers are committed to the message that this pageant is about much more than beauty. Contestants aren’t required to give their measurements upon entry and are expected to participate in fundraising activities and that component makes up part of their score.
Proceeds from each $25 ticket for the pageant in May go towards the Variety Club charities.
The week of pageant activities run the week of May 3 with optional rounds of competition including talent, swimsuit, most photogenic, and international competition. Each round, though optional, gives the contestants more opportunities to increase their exposure to the judges. Sharma plans on competing in all of them.
40% of their scores are based on how they interview and their communication skills with 60% coming from fundraising, promotion of the event, and how they present on stage including the evening gown competition.
“I’m really excited and not really nervous at all. I haven’t done this before so it’s going to be a lot of fun. I think I’ll get to learn so much from this.”
To prepare for the event, Sharma is focusing a lot of energy in the midst of her studies on promotions and fundraising to help raise funds for Variety. “Variety is worldwide and they’ve been helping children and families in BC for a long time through individual grants, emergency response funds, special assistive medical devices and therapies etc. They are a great non profit organization.”
The charity, fits Sharma’s inclination as she hopes to continue on to medical school. She’s selling Variety pins and tickets for the pageant with all proceeds donated to the charity.
“It’s a big opportunity with the chance for exposure and experience and a whole process of learning.Everything from how to accept rejection and dealing with people. It opens doors and offers from everything from entertainment and modeling to more volunteer experiences.”
Tickets and pins can be purchased from Sharma through her family locally by calling 250-448-9610.
