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Ms. Lanka 2006- 'Beauty for a Cause':

A gateway to charity through beauty culture



Gwendoline Kuhatheva

BEAUTY PAGEANT: It all sounds so easy when Gwendoline Kuhatheva, the directress of Technique International, the school of hairdressing and beauty therapy, spells out the secret, as to what she looks for in the final contestant of the Ms. Lanka beauty pageant.

"The ability to answer questions intelligently and the talent to present oneself well in a sari as well as a dress and trousers," she says. Gwendoline is the founder of Ms. Lanka-"Beauty for a Cause". This successful annual feature began when the Daya Mina Day Centre contacted her for a fund raiser.

The first Ms. Lanka pageant was held in 1995 and now it is in its eleventh year. Each year the organisers have chosen worthy causes to provide aid and charity- some of which are: Training differently abled (deaf person) in hair dressing and setting up a salon at the Ratmalana Deaf School, constructing a bakery at the Vajira Home for Children, setting up a development centre for women in Batticaloa, etc.

Making dreams come true by helping to uplift the lives of the less fortunate is the main reason for the annual event of Ms. Lanka- "Beauty for a Cause". Last year's project provided educational aid for low vision students of the Blind School at Ratmalana. This year the pageant hopes to raise charity for the National Health Development Fund under the recommendation of the Minister of Health, Nimal Siripala De Silva.

The mini-titles of Ms. Talent, Ms. Body Beautiful, Ms. Crowning Glory, and Ms. Photogenic was held at the Bishop's College Auditorium on November 11 while the final pageant which crowns Ms. Lanka 2006, along with the awards of mini-titles such as Ms. Catwalk and Ms. Elegance, will be held at the British School Auditorium on November 25.

The contestants themselves will vote for Ms. Congeniality based on the fact which colleague they believed was of most help to them and easy to get along with. All these mini-titles are considered as separate titles and do not contribute in any manner to the final results.

"The unique feature of our pageant is that most of the provisions are done voluntarily. Invitations will be issued for people who are interested in donating charity. We train the girls for free. There is no swimsuit parade and the finalists are judged in a sari. This event is named as "Ms. Lanka", so even married women can take part. The girls have to be over 17 years but there is no upper age limit.

We have had people in their 30s becoming runners-up in the past. Therefore, it all depends on how they present themselves. If someone wants to take part in the contest for a second time, we will give her permission, provided she had not won a title in the pageant," stressed Gwendoline.

The hair and make up will be done by the students of the Technique International, The school of Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy. Gwendoline said that this gives her students the opportunity to train for the World Federation Hair Dressing and Beauty examination. Past students of the institution will also design the outfits for the contestants. All the saris and the dresses will be issued free.

About 30 applications have been received for the contest this year. Out of these, 14 contestants have been interviewed and chosen for the final round. There had been a raise of participants from outstation areas such as Kurunegala, Gampaha and Galle.

A panel of 7 judges, consisting of people who are interested in the contest, will be choosing the winner. Gwendoline points out that the judges will remain anonymous till the final day of the beauty contest.

Dance and song items will be organized to entertain the guests and the event will be hosted by Angela Seneviratne and Clifford Richard. The media sponsors are Dinamina and Silumina. State Pharmaceutical Corporation, and B/Braun, Sri Lanka, a leading healthcare company, will act as sponsors, while music will be provided by Yohan and Honorine.

The official designer for the event will be Melani Jayaweera, hairstyles by Geetha Kanakaratne, and make-up by Fathimath Mufeeda. Among the prizes that Ms. Lanka 2006 will receive is a set of jewellery, a sari, an air ticket to Singapore or India, a box of beauty care products and a basket of flowers provided by "Sterling Flowers".

Four runners-up will also receive baskets of flowers while the other contestants will be handed a single rose. Each of the contestants will be given facials and a chance to have their nails adorned with nail art under the compliments of Technique International, says Gwendoline.

"Though we hope to send the winner for a trip abroad, we expect her to attend many charity projects in Sri Lanka too. We would like to make a request from the public to help us by providing the necessary charity and to come enjoy the final event. All our contestants are well trained.

If anyone is interested to provide sponsorship, they are welcome to contribute because the more sponsors we get, the more charity we can give. We do our best to contribute to the needy in a small but useful manner."

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