Rwanda’s Sharamanzi crowned Miss AfriCanada 2013

Rwandan born Marie-France Sharamanzi Temahagali is Miss AfriCanada 2013. She was crowned at a glamorous event on Sunday.Sharamanzi a.k.a Shara who currently resides in Canada, has come a long way from her humble beginnings in Rwanda. The one time refugee and witness to the infamous 1994 Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi, is the newest recipient of the Miss AfriCanada beauty queen pageant. “It still feels like a dream as I really did not expect to win. I am happy I did and I truly believe the sky is the limit for me. I want to use the title in the next year to promote causes I am passionate about such as crime prevention,” said Sharamanzi, after accepting the crown. The University of Toronto student is determined to use her new title to promote causes that are dear to her. She also promises to use the title to advocate for improving the lives of special-needs children. The law student believes that beauty pageants are a vehicle to highlight social justice issues they [beauty queens) care about. “I want to use mine for many causes, such as the one I mentioned above. I also hope to use it to empower young girls build self-esteem outside of popular culture and influence,” she noted.“The Genocide in my native Rwanda has inspired me to become a human rights lawyer to be an international citizen that will not allow genocides to happen in my lifetime,” she added.The 21-year-old is the first Rwandan to win this crown, since the pageant started 15 years ago.At the beauty event, another Rwandan Sandrine Manirere De Vincent, walked away with the title of Miss Social Media.The 15th annual African Heritage Pageant, Miss AfriCanada, popularly referred to as “Africa’s Finest Night in Toronto”, brought on stage a variety of young beautiful women of African descent for an educative and entertaining contest.

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Rwanda’s Sharamanzi crowned Miss AfriCanada 2013