Shawna gets Africa eye-opener

ON THE second day of her trip to Lagos, Nigeria fourth runner-up in the Miss Silverbird International 2005 beauty pageant — Trinidad and Tobago’s Shawna Maharaj — got an asthma attack. She had to be rushed to the medical room of the five-star Eko Hotel and Suite in Victoria Islands, Lagos, where she stayed. “They dealt with it immediately. The doctor ordered bed rest for the next day or so, and I was like ‘I wasn’t coming all the way over here to stay in bed’.” She kept those thoughts to herself.

It was the height of the Harmaton season, when dust from the Sahara desert blows south, and several southern countries including Nigeria were affected. In an interview, the Siparia beauty, who was crowned Miss Point Fortin last year and was selected to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the Magnificent Seven Pageant, recounted her experience on her first visit to Nigeria.  It was the first Miss Silverbird International beauty pageant held in Nigeria on January 29, which was designed to boost the country’s tourism industry. “The opportunity was fantabulous!” she exclaimed. “I never thought I’d see the African continent. Initially, it was like home because of the warm weather, and the people made me feel welcome.”

The Nigerians were especially appreciative of her natural look, as she was the only black delegate not wearing hair extensions. But she soon noticed stark differences in the way of life of the people and the conditions under which they lived, in comparison to her native land. Every experience was an eye-opener. Memorable was her very first.  “At the airport, I thought there was a riot. The photographers were extremely aggressive. It was like a rush. We were scared and security was tight. But then we realised they (the Nigerians) were happy to see us. This show was materialising in front of them, and that created excitement.” The 18 delegates were assigned chaperons and were taken on tours throughout the city, to dinner cocktails and formal events in the run-up to the pageant.

In the pre-judging event, which determined the top ten finalists, Shawna placed first in the intelligence segment. “And it’s not because I gave well-informed answers. I was being me and being witty. One Nigerian official told me that my personality is taller than I am and those were the exact words that Peter Elias told me.” Those weren’t all the compliments that the 5ft 4 inch beauty received. “People there were telling me ‘you have a cute face,’ and ‘you know yuh cute’ and I said ‘what is it with this ‘c’ word.’ People here (Trinidad) described me as cute and I thought that over there I’d be described as exotic, or gorgeous or beautiful at least,” she laughed. “When I’m called cute, I feel like a baby and that is how I describe babies.” She did celebrate her 21st birthday in Nigeria, an age many countries recognise as becoming an adult.

Another learning experience was the Nigerian handshake — one she would not be using anytime soon. “I noticed that when the men shook my hand they tickled my palm with their middle finger. It happened often so I decided to ask my chaperon about it. She gave me a disturbed look and told me: ‘That means he wants to have sex with you, ok! Point out to me who did that to you.’ The Nigerian men, we learned are aggressive. When they’re interested, they attack.” She was fascinated by the more than 200 languages spoken in Nigeria and surprised her audience on the night of the pageant with a Yoruban line which, when translated, means “I welcome you all!” “It amazed me that they have so many languages and yet communication is not an issue there, but in Trinidad we speak one and still we can’t get along. People (Afro-Trinidadians) here talk about going back to their roots, but nobody speaks African here. The closest East Indians get to speaking their language is chutney!”

She couldn’t fathom the wide gap in social status that existed between Nigerians. “The poverty level is amazing. Either you’re rich or poor. The middle class, we were told, is very small. We saw whole families living on the streets — mother, father and children. The streets were very littered with high mounds of garbage everywhere. Yes, they say littering is illegal, but they said that the methods used to alleviate the problem were not very effective. I saw people burning rubbish right in the capital. I thought we had littering and vagrancy problems, but our vagrants here live in luxury to those in Nigeria. “We visited the shopping area which they call the market. I was amazed at the rich artwork and detail in pieces of craft made from wood, brass, animal skin, tusk. And shopping there is all about bargain. There is no price tag. They ask you how much you have and then they determine a price. You bargain for everything,” she said.

Shawna was offered a chance to work with Silverbird, which is one of Nigeria’s major production companies, since her field of study is communication. “Additionally, the co-ordinator for Miss Ethiopia expressed interest in having me attend their pageant this year. I’m a little excited about that coming through.” She added: “I can’t thank Sascha Cosmetics enough for the make-up training that I received here in Trinidad. I did my own make-up and professional make-up artists were asking me about my brand of make-up, and I recommended Sascha to them. And that felt so good. Apart from conservative make-up for the pageant, for the fashion show they wanted dramatic make-up and my make-up created a li’l stir ever so often. I say a special thank you to Peter Elias and Associates, all the sponsors and each Trinbagonian for their love, warmth and support shown.”