On Wednesday, reigning Miss Rwanda Meghan Nimwiza arrived in Kigali from London, United Kingdom, where she represented Rwanda at the just-concluded 69th edition of the Miss World beauty pageant.

Even though she lost the crown to Jamaican beauty queen, Toni-Ann Singh, she made it to the top 20 in the contest’s Beauty with a Purpose category.

She spoke to Saturday Times’ Eddie Nsabimana about her experience at the world’s most prestigious beauty contest.

How can you describe your Miss World journey?

It was an incredible experience, one that I can call ‘unforgettable’.

The experience was one of many lessons and friendships that I believe are undying. I learnt a lot of things during the journey.

What crucial challenges did you encounter that made you lose the crown?

I did not lose the crown, sorry for that.

But you didn’t bring it home…

Well, there is one thing we have to understand. That was a competition, I was part over a hundred contestants from other nations that were also competing for the crown. And many of them get so much support from their respective countries, which is a good thing.

I think one reason why I wasn’t able to make it to the top positions, though there are other reasons, I believe there is also support that we need from people we left home. If I have 300 votes on Mobstar and the others have four million …that is a crucial part of Miss World that needs to be addressed.

I think I did all I could or what I was supposed to do and, in fact, I feel like I did represent my country well and I feel like the support that I needed was from the people.

So does it mean that Rwandans let you down?

No, the thing is international beauty pageants are pretty new to the Rwandan community. The social media platforms we use to vote in Miss World are not often used by Rwandans.

For instance, how many Rwandans use Mobstar today? Even me, I actually learnt about Mobstar on my way to Miss World. So it is something that we do not know and that is a crucial part of Miss World.

The votes are taken from Mobstar… which means Rwandans did not let me down because being new to them was a barrier. But, at least, they gave the moral supported I needed and that was very important.

It is not anyone’s fault, nor is it mine, that I did not win the crown but maybe let’s see how it goes in 2020.

You missed out on the crown like the others before you, do you believe Miss Rwanda can win it any time soon?

Why not? I am very confident because I have been part of that competition, I know what it takes now to win it and I know Rwandan girls do have the capacity to take the crown home.

I believe however, that the bigger part, after getting into that competition, is to encourage Rwandans to vote for their representative.

I believe the girls that have attended the competition in the past editions, from Miss Rwanda 2016, have brought something, maybe not the crown but we have titles and new experiences.

So the reason I am saying that I am pretty confident future Miss Rwanda winners would take the crown home is because I know the standards of Miss World and I see opportunities in the Rwandan girls if they were supported.

What do you think the next contestant should focus on to do better in the next edition?

Preparations are a very crucial part. I had time to prepare, I got people to prepare me and I learnt a lot at the boot camp. I think the next contestant will learn some tips to focus on from me or other previous representatives.

What’s next now?

The way forward is that I am going to continue to work on my project, then my studies. I am just going to come back to the normal life.