Crown helped Miss SA embrace her quirks
|Published
Miss South Africa 2015 Liesl Laurie. Photo: Facebook/Miss South Africa Miss South Africa 2015 Liesl Laurie. Photo: Facebook/Miss South Africa
Lerato Mbangeni
As Liesl Laurie, the reigning Miss South Africa 2015, prepares to hand over her crown in a bit more than a week she spoke about her journey and all she'd learnt.
“Before the crowning there were hard times with my family and I forgot who Liesl was. During the year of my reign, I remembered that I liked country music; that I enjoyed laughing with my family. I used to be self doubting and unconfident. I've realised that I'm a bit off beat, and that that is my charm, the thing that makes me, me. I've learnt to embrace it. If I take one thing away from this, it will be that I've learnt to love myself,” said Laurie.
The 25-year can still recall the best part of her reign.
“I will never forget my homecoming parade after I won the Miss South Africa title. Two weeks after the crowning, I was driven from Sun City to Eldorado Park and was amazed by what I saw. There was a red carpet, and the area was cordoned off, and there was a guard of honour and a parade. My entire community had come out to see me, to wish me well. Eldos was shut down for the day. It was amazing.”
She said she was overwhelmed by everyone who expressed their pride and gratitude for what she had done. She says her reign was “trouble free” and will end on the same high note on which it started.
What she enjoyed most about being Miss SA was all the charity work she got to do.
“I think one of the most special things I did in my Miss South Africa year was to visit Reach for a Dream. It was amazing to spend a day with children aged from four to 12, all with a terminal illness. The resilience of the Reach for a Dream children reminded me to be grateful for what I have. It puts life into perspective.
“Then of course there is my charity, The Pearl Project, which aims to motivate young girls through educational workshops. I visited many schools, talking to the girls,” she said.
Laurie is now planning to focus on her reign as Miss World Africa.”On December 19 at the Miss World pageant in China, I was crowned Miss World Africa. So my job for 2016 is to travel around Africa representing Miss World. Instead of PE, Durban and Cape Town I'll be travelling to Uganda, Mali and Chad. I am looking forward to the next challenge, the next growth point for me.”
lerato.mbangeni@inl.co.za
The Star