Miss SA and Miss Teen SA News

Miss SA, Tatum Keshwar Flies to London to Support Miss World charity Initiative

By Sun International | 02 November 2009

The Miss World Charity Dinner will bring all 120 finalists to London for a night of international fundraising and world class entertainment. From there all the contestants will be going onto to Abu Dhabi for the next round of events, prior to coming to South Africa.

Miss World has done so much to support children all over the world through its theme ‘Beauty With A Purpose’. Each contestant donates a national treasure to the Miss World Charity Auction. Tatum’s gift is a traditional Zulu hand-crafted glass bead necklace, bracelet and earrings. This beautiful costume jewellery set was made by a self-help group in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

All proceeds will be donated to the Variety International Children’s Fund and the event hopes to raise $1 million to support surgical, nutritional and educational programmes in Haiti, Palau, Philippines, Ghana and India.

All competing Miss World nations will be officially presented on stage, each wearing a dress created by a designer from their own country.

Kluk CGDT has designed a showstopper dress for Tatum’s London stage debut. The empire design is hand dyed mesh over nude satin in a bias cut, with side bow and bugle beading. It is exquisitely finished off with individually hand-sewn ostrich feather fronds.

Tatum will return to South Africa on 17 November after her whirlwind tour of London and Abu Dhabi ready to take on the Miss World fast track events.

The innate heritage of South Africa, the breathtaking golden beaches, diverse culture and tropical climate make it the ideal country to host the Miss World Pageant. As queen of the host country, this is an excellent opportunity for Tatum to showcase her pride in her home country.

This year, the Miss World contestants will be divided into four groups; Cheetahs, Marshall Eagles, King African Penguins and Black Rhinos, as part of The Miss World Group Challenge. Each group is named after an endangered species that inhabits South Africa. During the challenge the groups will learn about their threatened species and visit the incredible conservation projects and facilities across South Africa.

Cheetahs - The Miss World Cheetahs will meet a group of hand-raised cheetahs in the care of the Cheetah Sanctuary’s amazing Cheetah Outreach Programme at the Spier Resort in Cape Town. The main aim of the programme is to raise funds to ensure the survival of the cheetah and where possible breed cheetah in captivity and promote co-operation between facilities in South Africa.

Marshall Eagles - The Marshall Eagle group will be given a unique opportunity to encounter these birds at a special bird of prey rehabilitation centre for endangered species. The long-term vision of the centre, which is based near Cape Town, is helping to preserve the eco-environment by protecting birds of prey. This is achieved through the re-release of rehabilitated birds back into the wild, and creating community awareness of birds of prey.

King African Penguins - The King African Penguin group will visit the picturesque Boulders Beach near Cape Town, a World Heritage Site for birds. Here they will support the conservation project for the Boulder’s own colony of African Penguins, one of only two places in the world that the colonies still exist.

Black Rhinos - The Black Rhino group will visit the famous Legends Resort World Heritage site in Johannesburg. The huge reserve - which holds the endangered Black Rhino as well as thousands of other species - boasts five full eco-systems. The upper escarpment offers majestic craggy rock formations and wide open grass plains while the lower plateau, which is separated from the upper region by 600m high cliffs, is nearly three degrees warmer and consists of sandy wetlands where the rare black rhinos have settled.

These will also be the official groups for the Miss World Sports Woman fast-track event which has become one of the most popular events on the Miss World calendar. The contestants take part in a series of challenges that test their agility and sporting endeavour. The World Sports Woman is a one of five fast-track events, with the winner reaching the Miss World semi-final.

The other fast track events include; the Miss World Beauty With A Purpose Award, Miss World Beach Beauty in Durban; Miss World Fashion in Johannesburg and Miss World Talent in Cape Town.

For the finale at Gallagher Estate, Kluk CGDT has designed an ethereal and other worldly gown especially for Tatum. “We wanted to elevate her to the status of a queen in a breathtaking gown,” says Malcolm Kluk. The soft, romantic dress is a vision in white made with over a hundred metres of tulle and crystals.

“It will look as if she is walking on a cloud. We also took into account her wonderful height and deportment, and the dress will make her stand out from the crowd making her the only choice for Miss World.”