NATASHA UYSNINETEEN-year-old Miss Teen Namibia Schwane Blignaut is beyond excited to be heading abroad for the first time to compete in the Miss Teen International pageant, which takes place in India in February 2021.
Blignaut won the Miss Teen Namibia crown in August 2019. Her reign was extended in April this year when the organisers of the pageant announced they would postpone entries for 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“My time as Miss Teen Namibia was filled with memorable moments. Amid the pandemic, my reign was extended by one year and I couldn’t be more grateful. I received the opportunity to continue making an impact in our beautiful country,” she says. “For all the contestants who were supposed to take part this year, your dreams are still valid. Take this year to grow even more and give it your all next year.”
Blignaut says the pandemic has seen her take a step back to spend more time with her loved ones. “I felt it was much needed. However I still continued my charity projects as much as possible,” she says of her continued involvement with the Deaf School of Namibia.
“I hand-picked two girls who assisted me with providing a more suitable learning environment for two visually impaired girls. The selected girls and I, in collaboration with sponsors from Hemco Paints, painted a chalkboard in their personal classroom.” Blignaut has been involved with the hearing impaired community for about five or six years, and first started learning sign language through her aunt, who is a sign language teacher. “My mom did a pageant with hearing-impaired young people, and I was involved there and needed to be able to interact with the girls,” says Blignaut.
“I found it very interesting and decided to do an advanced course, which I will complete next year. It also prompted my work with children from the Deaf School of Namibia. I think it’s very special for them to see someone from the hearing community taking the time to be able to communicate with them better. It shows them they are just as important as anyone else and have a place in this world.”
She has also visited various Windhoek schools to conduct ‘Beauty Has a Story’ workshops, which aim to motivate girls to be more confident, and started her own clothing line called ‘Beauty Has a Story Factory’. Blignaut describes representing Namibia on the upcoming international platform as a “huge honour”.
She will be travelling to India with her mother, who she says is her greatest inspiration and role model. “To be able to experience this with her is truly special and a blessing. Seeing how she treats people equally and with such respect is something I admire about her. I can only wish to accomplish half of what she has.” Blignaut juggles her Miss Teen Namibia responsibilities alongside running her dance company, Diamond Dance Complex.
“I’m not sure what the future holds, but I want to persue my dancing career and grow my dance company to be viewed as a force to be reckoned with. I have a passion for children, and would like to persue a career in this direction,” says Blignaut, who enjoys exercising and spending time at home in her spare time. Entries for Miss Teen Namibia 2021 are currently open until January 2021. Email missteennamibia@gmail.com for more information, and visit their social media pages to see video clips of some of the entrants.
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