Angela Dube and Lordwin Rimire
By Mamaswa Ralefeta
South Africa and Zimbabwe co-hosted the Mr and Miss Albinism 2022 pageant in Harare on 27 – 31 August 2022 through the Albinism Dare to Dream Initiative to create awareness and fight discrimination, stigmatisation, and marginalisation against those having albinism.
Angela Nokuthaba Dube (25) from Bulawayo province was crowned Miss Albinism 2022 while Lordwin Rimire (21) from Midlands province was Mr Albinism. First and second prince were Nthandoyenkosi Mnkandla (Bulawayo) and Don Kuswatuka (Harare) while Brenda Mhlanga (Manicaland) and Yolanda Rumbidzai Gwabuya (Zvishavane) landed the first and second princess titles respectively.
Dube told ThisAbility, “Mr. and Miss Albinism is more than just a pageant as it is a platform for creating awareness about albinism through modelling.” She said participants got to interact with each other, know each other’s stories, and appreciated that they are all different yet the same. They had training on grooming, team spirit, and confidence in themselves.
Director of Miss Albinism Zimbabwe Trust, Brenda Chibvongodze Mudzimu (37), an advocate for persons with albinism, organised and coordinated the event, with help from sponsors in different Southern African countries including South Africa, which held its first pageant in 2021.
She said the process of reaching out for people to take part in the pageant “was easy due to social media and word of mouth”. Anyone 16 or older, married or single, could take part according to Mudzimu.
It was the process of working with other countries that was not easy, she added. It involved knocking on many doors and overcoming challenges that included finances. “One of the challenges was a language barrier. I remember when the organiser of the Equatorial Guinea pageant spoke about me on the radio. He shared with me the interviews, but I could hear my name Brenda, I could hear Zimbabwe, but I did not understand what they were doing or saying,” said Mudzimu.
On the judging panel was Sasekani Masingi (27), Mr and Miss Albinism activist 2021/2022 from South Africa, who said it was quite an experience for her to travel to another country and take part in the crowning of Mr and Miss Albinism. “I had an amazing time getting to know everyone and being a part of this force of change in the albinism community,” said Masingi.
Mudzimu told ThisAbility they plan to have an ambassador for the albinism community who will go around the world furthering albinism work and making sure that the rights of persons with albinism are protected, promoted, and respected. Future plans include hosting Mr and Miss Albinism Africa and the world, as albinism is found everywhere in the world and so should awareness to stop stereotypes and discrimination against the condition.
