On November 15, 2015, in Sandton, South Africa, former Miss Rwanda finalist Joannah Keza Bagwire did Rwanda proud: she scooped 2nd place in Africa and 4th worldwide at that year’s annual Miss Heritage Global beauty pageant. 

Formerly known as Miss Heritage World, Miss Heritage Global is an international beauty contest that seeks to promote world heritage. The brainchild of Zimbabwean Tare Munzara, the pageant brings together women from across the globe to showcase their countrys’ national heritage.

Bagwire, whose middle name Keza means "beauty”, was among the 2015 Miss Rwanda finalists, where she was crowned Miss Heritage Rwanda 2015, and this is the ticket she used to qualify for the Miss Heritage Global beauty pageant.

Bagwire easily attributes her win in South Africa to the experience she gained contesting in Miss Rwanda, and above all, hard work.

In its fifth season now, this year’s pageant will kick off on Saturday, January 9, with auditions for the Northern Province held at the Virunga Hotel in Musanze town, moving on to the Western Province the following day, for auditions at the Gorilla Hotel in Rubavu.

There will be a one-week break until January 16, when auditions for the Southern Province will be held at the Hotel Credo.

The following day, January 17, the auditions move to the Eastern Province (Eastland Hotel), winding upin Kigali on January 23, at the Sports View Hotel in Remera.

In all, five contestants will be picked from each province, bringing the total number to 25, but at the pre-selection stage, this number will be trimmed to 15 finalists that will compete for the coveted crown at the grand finale slated for February 27, at Camp Kigali.

And as a former Miss Rwanda contestant who is going places courtesy of her Miss Heritage crown, Bagwire has a word of advice for this year’s hopefuls: it’s all about hard work!

"What they have to know is that it’s not a matter of just sitting in your home and waiting for the day of auditions and then you just show up,” Bagwire cautions.

"What I personally did before auditions is that I carried out my own research and found out about the kind of questions they usually ask, how the contestants handle themselves before the judges, how they walk and how they do the catwalk … you have to know all these things to stand a chance.”

Not only did she do her research ahead of time, she also took the in-house training for contestants at boot camp seriously enough.

Confidence is the other quality she recommends, but hastens to add that "there is a thin line between confidence and over confidence.”

Unlike a great deal of contestants, Bagwire was lucky to have got encouragement from not only friends but also family from day one. She actually admits that it was the push from her peers at school that eventually led her to give it a try.

She has no kind words for parents and relatives who behave otherwise.

"On my side Miss Rwanda is not just about beauty but also about culture, about patriotism, it’s about behaviour, intelligence, and being hard working and passionate.”

Like Bagwire, Edna Darlene Gasana too was pushed by friends to give the 2015 Miss Rwanda pageant a try.

"I had a friend who was in Miss Rwanda 2014 and one day we were talking and she asked why I couldn’t do the same, and I just said why not?”

Luckily, she nursed ambitions of starting up a charitable organisation of her own.

"I said to myself if I become Miss Rwanda, I can talk to all girls in Rwanda, then they will see me as someone who speaks for them,”Gasana says.

Not so long after she was voted Miss Congeniality 2015 by fellow contestants, Gasana realised her dream of starting up an organisation –hence the birth of Ihumure Foundation, which helps single mothers and their children in setting up small income-generating activities to support their livelihood.

She credits her experience in Miss Rwanda 2015 for emboldening her character and public persona.

"Before Miss Rwanda I was this very shy girl, but now I can go in front of people and talk, and I think that’s the most important experience I gained,” she says.

Gasana tips this year’s contestants:

"The first thing is they have to be self confident. The other thing is to not go into the contest to be a winner, but rather to showcase what is inside your heart, because as we all know, Miss Rwanda is more about values than physical beauty.

Miss Rwanda is all about giving an opportunity to girls to express what is in their minds, like projects they would want to do, and what they think about their culture,” Gasana adds.

Just like Gasana, who dabbles into social work with her Ihumure Foundation, Bagwire has been putting her Miss Heritage crown to some good use.

As Miss Heritage she was last year involved with a cultural event called Hobe Rwanda, whose aim is to promote Rwandan culture through education, music and poetry.

"I worked with these artistes as their ambassador, and after that I worked with Rwanda Inspiration Backup, the company that organises Miss Rwanda during their National Entrepreneurs Debate and here, I sensitised students in secondary schools about the importance of knowing and cherishing their culture.”

She contends that, like her Miss Heritage crown, the Miss Rwanda contest is "all about culture”.

"I was chosen as the ambassador of Rwandan culture among the contestants. Of course I love my country and my culture. I even do traditional dance. Culture does not mean wearing Rwandan costumes everyday or dancing a traditional dance everyday. Even in your heart, your blood, your social life you can manifest culture.”

Dieudonne Ishimwe Kagame, the organiser of Miss Rwanda explains the cultural context from which the competition derives.

"Since time immemorial, Rwandans have always had a culture of selecting the most beautiful girl from each village (Nyampinga) someone who was inspiring and a role model to others, and Miss Rwanda is simply a continuation of this tradition,”Kagame says.

For Mike Karangwa, one of the judges of Miss Rwanda, confidence ranks above all other factors in determining a good performance.

"The most common problem contestants face is that of lack of self-confidence, followed by the language barrier, and the third is lack of focus. A person comes on stage and she thinks her beauty and catwalk are the main things that will make her excel, which is not the case. They need to be in touch with the current world. They need to research, to read, to know government policies and current affairs as part of their tools to win, because all we need is someone with content.”

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THE FORMER WINNERS

Grace Bahati – Miss Rwanda 2009 – 2012

The first ever crowned Miss Rwanda, Grace Bahati, will never forget her reign. Apart from not having a proper schedule and management, the only thing she’s remembered for is getting pregnant out of wedlock. Bahati was Miss Rwanda 2009; according to her, she handed over the crown when her term was done and she had to go for further studies in the United States of America.

She got pregnant in 2012 with musician Kavuyo K8’s child but she was ridiculed by the general public. Although she had handed over the crown, most people thought she was still the reigning Miss Rwanda which wasn’t the case. She lives in the US with her son Ethan.

Aurore Kayibanda Mutesi – Miss Rwanda 2012 – 2014

Born in the Southern Province of Butare in 1990, Aurore was crowned Miss Rwanda in 2012. She became Miss Rwanda at a time when no one thought the pageant would ever take place again. She re-built the face of beauty queens in Rwanda, participated in Miss University Africa contest in Nigeria, Miss Supranational in Belarus (both in which she won Miss Congeniality) and crowned Miss FESPAM in 2013 in Ivory Coast.

She also organised the first "Night of Remembrance,” an annual commemoration event to remember the youth who perished in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. She was also involved in various charity works, such as visiting the sick and the needy and participating in advisory services for the youth. She is actively involved in beauty pageants and charity projects.

Colombe Akiwacu – Miss Rwanda 2014 – 2015

Colombe was crowned Miss Rwanda in 2014. She stood the test of time as Miss Rwanda amidst all frustrations she encountered. Akiwacu’s reign as Miss Rwanda was marred by allegations of mismanagement.During her reign, she conducted various charity projects for orphans and Genocide widows.

Her tour in Europe was successful as she managed to clinch deals with OE cosmetics in France and Bruno Vassari in Spain.

Doriane Kundwa – Miss Rwanda 2015 – to date

Doriane Kundwa was crowned Miss Rwanda 2015 in front of an excited audience at the Kigali Serena Hotel in February last year. The 19-year-old Northern Province student saw off the challenge of the 14 other finalists after the contestants underwent a grueling three rounds of questions and catwalks that reduced the 15 down to a final five, Lynca Akacu, Fiona Ntaringwa, Vanessa Raissa Uwase, Balbine Mutoni and the eventual winner Kundwa.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw