The Veiled Beauty

Mr. and Miss Cavendish University is here again…lads and lasses participate in a beauty pageant competition held in pomp. For Somalis, culture gets in the way…

Cavendish University Uganda is largely known for its cultural diversity with over fifteen nationalities allover Africa. On Friday, November 22, 2019 at 7 PM at the Tirupati mazima mall, there was excitement and tension as the thirteen contestants got ready to use this platform to represent uniqueness and to be a voice of their particular social groups. It’s a no-brainer that for any beauty pageant, the crown is a chase as well as exciting prizes to be won in respective categories. For Somalia culture and religion intertwine and with this conservatism is the day’s order. The undeniable beauty of the women is accompanied by the traditional attire, the shash and the garbasaar not to leave the Xirsi . The Somalis have quite a rich and peculiar culture that deserves a face of recognition.

Cavendish University Uganda promises to encourage participation of Somalis in the beauty pageant competitions come 2020.

By 1:00AM, the results were in and the judge announced Lambu Gaspard Serge and Amazone Mutazi Benidicte,  both Congolese as Mr and Miss Cavendish University 2019/2020 respectively. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) participated with utmost dedication and won four awards. DRC proved to be the land where beauty and fashion is elemental.

Somali girls cannot participate in such activities. They belong at home and I bet on that

Yahaya a male Somali student with no further disclose said

For some of the girls, they are deprived from such an experience due to fear to disobey family, be regarded as copying the western culture yet they just want to be as unique and keep their beliefs in practice and at heart…

 “You don’t have to take off your scarf to prove a point, be who you wanna be…,” said Halima Eden the former Miss Minnesota and first Somalis hijab model.

Culture is part of society and recognition of Somalis would put Cavendish University Uganda beauty pageant competitions on the globe.