Miss Earth 2011 says...:

'Beauty queens can protect environment'

by Anuradha Kodagoda

"A "A witty woman is a treasure; a witty beauty is power" this cliché describes beautiful Miss Ecuador - South Africa, Olguita Alava, who was crowned Miss Earth in 2011. She recently visited Sri Lanka as the chief guest of the Miss Earth Sri Lanka pageant held at Galle Face Hotel Colombo.

This is an exclusive interview Sunday Observer had with the flawless Ecuadorian model from Guayaquil, about her experience as a social and lifestyle entrepreneur, environmentalist and an international beauty pageant titleholder.

"Compared to other beauty pageants the important aspect that I see in the Miss Earth Beauty pageant is the dedication and commitment that it has with society and also with the world. It is not just taking part in a beauty pageant and keen only on women's beauty and the catwalk but she has the earnest desire to improve the environment and society and deserves to be the Miss Earth. This pageant which chose a woman to advocate environmental issues and to create awareness about the environment through a beauty queen is another objective of this beauty pageant," she said while giving us an enigmatic smile.

"I always believe that we are the best group in society that can influence and save the environment and cultivate beliefs about the need to take care of the environment as it's our responsibility to save the environment for our children. We are doing quite a lot of activities in my country with school children at different levels. Such as tree planting, re-using and recycling projects which we are trying to implement for them and many other environmental-friendly projects not only in my country but in other countries as well," she said.

After winning the Miss Earth 2011 in the Philippines, Álava toured several Asian cities before arriving in Ecuador. In January 2012, Álava met the Ministry of Environment in Ecuador and discussed issues related to environmental preservation. She then actively participated with the Ecuadorian Army in the planting of 7,500 young Pijio trees in the coastal region of Ecuador that is in danger due to the forest fires together.

"I travelled to the United States as a special guest for the office of the consulate of Ecuador in 2012 and was then sashayed on the runway at the Miami International Fashion Week which is one of the most unforgettable days of my life.

Alava had a tour with the Miss Earth Foundation in late 2012 and visited Taiwan where she paid homage, attended the opening of an electric car assembly plant, and joined the International Committee of the Red Cross in its social action campaigns and various projects in Taiwan.

In addition to numerous trips around Ecuador, so far during her reign, Álava has travelled to the Philippines, China, the United States, Taiwan, Guam, Qatar, Thailand, Reunion Island in Africa and India.

As Alava said the most important characteristic that every woman who participates in an international beauty pageant should have is self-confidence, because day by day, the standard of competition is rising in international beauty competitions.

"It's important to shine within yourself and not only shine to others. As I believe the competition should be within us not with others. Every woman who dreams about being an internationally recognised beauty queen should have only one thing on their minds. That is "am I prefect enough to compete?" she said.

"It's true that sometimes Miss Earth sounds weired to some people because as you said nowadays natural beauty is not there any more and it is all artificial. But as I mentioned earlier, the Miss Earth pageant pays attention to natural beauty too. During the selection process a few mini pageants were there where contestants had to compete without any makeovers and be natural. Also through the Miss Earth beauty pageant there are many awareness campaigns taking place around the world to promote the importance of natural beauty," she said.

Olguita Álava, born on February 14, in Guuayaquil, Ecuador turned 25 this year. She has three brothers and is the eldest of four children. Her hobbies include photography and modelling. During her childhood years she frequently visited the province of Manabi and spent much of her time on its beaches.

She has a Bachelor's Degree in International Business and graduated from the Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo. She speaks Spanish, English and Mandarin Chinese and studied the French language at the Alliance Francaise. Her interest in Cultural exchange has led her to live in other countries. She lived in China for one year, where she studied the Chinese language in Shanghai for seven months and helped her father in the import and quality control of their business. She also spent seven months in Colorado, United States where she had a public relations internship at a restaurant.