The Standard|Reigning Miss Zimbabwe Bongani Dlakama’s stay in China at the Miss World finals was a nightmare that she quickly wants to forget.

Besides going to the international contest without any grooming, the Miss Zimbabwe Trust sent her abroad with an empty purse.

She said she had to use her prize money for accommodation in Beijing where she spent a night before going to Mongolia.

She had to purchase a lot of other goods that were required for the event from her own purse.

“I had to buy my own dress for the final because a designer engaged by Miss Zimbabwe Trust told me just two days before I left for China that she had not been paid and had not made the dress,” lamented Dlakama.

“I bought the dress for about US$1 500 in South Africa and I spent US$500 on portraits of the Victoria Falls and the flame lily national flower that I had to take to the final for my national identity. There were many other requirements that I had to finance on my own.

“On my return I had to pay over US$800 for luggage and I think my total expenditure could exceed US$5 000 (half of the prize money she got for being crowned Miss Zimbabwe).”

Besides the financial stress, Dlakama said she felt very low in camp as she realised the higher level of preparedness of other models compared to her.

“The competition was intense and there was no way that I could have done well. It is not like I am giving an excuse for my failure but people have to know that what we do in the name of preparation for such a stage is nothing close to what is required.

“I had just two months to prepare in which there was no significant grooming that was done.”

Dlakama said she failed the Beauty with a purpose contest because she had no video footage of her cancer project that was mandatory.

“When I wanted to film the project before leaving for Miss World the Trust had no money to hire cameras and I could not do it myself because it was too expensive.

“It was embarrassing to hear other models saying they actually had choreographers training them three months before the contest when I failed to do dance lessons that cost just US$15.

“I really felt so low and I have to say it is time organisers become more serious about the pageant.”

She said organisers have to be more serious and pledged to assist the next national queen as much as she can.

She also bemoaned the fact that the licence holder for Miss Zimbabwe pageant, Cliff Sachikonye is not directly involved in the production of the pageant.

“Sachikonye is the United Kingdom while the pageant is going through such tough times. Even now as I am going back to Bulawayo the Trust cannot afford a mere bus ticket and that should say a lot,” said Dlakama.

The model arrived in the country on Tuesday on a low key after her failure to impress in China where she came back empty- handed.

She however said her stay in China was enlightening and had a great experience in the Asian country.

Kiki Divaris, patron of Miss Zimbabwe Trust last week said everyone knows the challenges that they faced and they should be grateful that Dlakama even managed to travel to China.

“There is a lot that has been happening, everyone knows that,” said Divaris.

“We were lucky to manage the holding of the pageant in the first place and she was lucky she travelled so I think that she failed to impress in China should not be an issue.”

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Maldives opposition protest ahead of ‘coup’ report

Police have said they will not allow any unrest
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Timeline: The Maldives
Maldives ‘will go to the dogs’ Watch
Maldives leader in ‘quit’ pledge
Supporters of ex-Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed have held rallies in the capital, Male, ahead of the release of a report into this year’s transfer of power.

The report is set to rule on whether Mr Nasheed was forced from power in February in a coup, as he has alleged.

Earlier, Mr Nasheed’s sole representative quit the panel, saying the results were biased and incomplete.

Security has been beefed up and police have called for calm.

Eyewitnesses said several hundred people demonstrated on Wednesday evening in support of Mr Nasheed, after the former president called on them to take to the streets.

Mr Nasheed, the country’s first democratic president, claims he was forced to quit in February under duress after soldiers and police mutinied in the capital, Male.

But his successor, Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, who had been serving as his vice-president, insists that Mr Nasheed left of his own accord after opposition-led protests.

‘Missing evidence’
The BBC’s Charles Haviland, in neighbouring Sri Lanka, says both forecast that the report will declare there was no coup – which would satisfy President Waheed and dismay Mr Nasheed.

“If the commission says it’s not a coup, then it’ll be big shock to all Maldivians. Nobody is going to believe it,” Hamid Abdul Gafoor, a spokesman for Mr Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party, told Reuters.

In dramatic resignation earlier, Ahmed “Gahaa” Saeed, Mr Nasheed’s nominee on the Commonwealth-backed inquiry, said the report was missing some key testimonies and photo, audio and video evidence.

Police have said they will not allow any unrest and have been carrying out searches on people on the streets and those arriving on boats to Male, according to local media.

The situation not just in Male but in other parts of the Maldives, too, is tense, our correspondent says.

Mr Nasheed, a reformist who spent years in jail or under house arrest, came to power in 2008 after beating long-time President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the country’s first ever polls.

Ipetu-Ijesa, Osun State, was struck with tragedy when a hunter, Igere Segun, who caught his friend and his wife making love in his bedroom and killed the wife. It was learnt that Segun raged at the sight of the two lovers in his bedroom, got hold of an iron and aimed a strike at the head of his friend. The friend, however, dodged as the iron hits his wife, Aina, on the head.

The friend immediately bolted from the room while the wife, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to Olujobi Hospital in Ikeji Arakeji, where she died on the third day.
Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, Mrs. Kalafite Adeyemi, confirmed the incident, saying the police were on the trail of Segun’s friend, whose name he gave as Abiodun. According to the commissioner, “The incident happened last Thursday in Ipetu-Ijesa. It occurred between 10:50pm and 11pm. The husband had gone out, but unexpectedly came back late in the night.

“Ostensibly, he caught them red-handed and in an attempt to hit the man with an iron rod, he hit the wife, who was rushed to Olujobi Hospital in Ikeji Arakeji… She died the third day. The man is in custody while we are on the trail of the runaway lover. The case is being investigated.”

Let There Be Light
by Cara Hanson

Genesis 1:3-5
(3) And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
(4) God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
(5) God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.

When God wanted light, He didn’t flip on a light switch. Unlike man, there was no bulb to replace, no muttering under his breath, no trip to the hardware store to buy more bulbs, along with a new power tool that he would never use but was on sale for a limited time only. No, when God wanted light, He spoke it into being. That’s why He is such an awesome God! Even Thomas Edison, the lighting Wizard (genius) of Menlo Park, could not achieve such a feat.

In the mid 1980s, someone invented a device called The Clapper. This sound -activated electrical switch allowed people to turn lights on with only a clap of their hands. Suddenly people all over the world were singing, “Clap on! Clap off!” and relishing their new authority. They thought, “Oh, the thrill of finally being in control of something! The power is so intoxicating!” But the power was fleeting, and God had the last laugh. The Clapper could also sometimes be triggered by coughing, a dog’s bark, or loud appliances. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been for God if the heavenly hosts sang praises at His creation, and the lights went out. Thankfully, there was no such design flaw in His plan.

Our three young children have trouble understanding many of the Old Testament records, but the plagues on Egypt really grabbed their attention. What was most upsetting to them was not the thought of being infested with lice or locusts, but rather the Plague of Darkness. They could not let this one go. “But they had flashlights, right, Mommy?” How interesting that these kids would rather have frogs jump out of their Cheerios than have total darkness and have to… (shudder) go to bed.

God considers darkness to be a plague. We often focus on the other more “dramatic” plagues, but we can’t ignore the fact that He was trying to communicate something here. What is it about darkness that is so horrible? Children often develop a fear of the dark, and with good reason. For one thing, we can’t see where we are going. We also can’t see what is near us or what might hurt us.

Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

One of the reasons God wants us to study the Bible daily is that we need it for our daily guidance. When we neglect His Word, we often can’t figure out why our lives are going in the wrong direction. I don’t know about you, but when the power goes out, I turn on the light switch almost every time I enter a room. It takes me a few clueless seconds before I slap my forehead and realize why the light isn’t working. There is no power source! Similarly, when we finally plug into God’s Word, the light comes on in our minds and hearts.

Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Shining Our Lights
Children are drawn to the light. Our kids love Christmas lights so much that I decided to use them to help us all walk better for our Lord. I explained to them that Jesus was the light of the world (John 8:12). Now that we can’t physically see him anymore, someone else had better keep that light shining. Every time they looked at the Christmas tree, the lights were supposed to remind them to “shine their lights” for Jesus. They would grin from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat, so we still use the expression, “Shine your lights!” year-round to spur them out of a slump. They can relate to this concept because they understand that the tree looks far prettier with lights than without. Of course, the same principle should be applied to adults.

When God said, “Let there be light,” it wasn’t just for that moment in time. He wants our light all of the time. When we stray from the light of His heart, we walk in darkness. God is still saying, “Let there be light” to our hearts. If you have ever fumbled around in the middle of the night and bumped into furniture, you have experienced pain that signals to your brain, “Please turn on a light.” God loves us as His own children, and He does not want us to get hurt.

The god of hurt, Satan, has “blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel” (2 Cor. 4:4). Since that is the case, we should be cranking up our floodlights to draw people to the heart of God. I have seen many unbelievers become attracted to the light shone by Christians. I have also seen unbelievers become confused by Christians who swear, lie, or treat others badly. If people are already walking in darkness, what good will we do them if we are also walking in darkness? That would just be the “blind leading the blind.” After all:

1 John 1:5-7
(5) This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
(6) If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
(7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Our kids have the right idea to despise the darkness. Light is warm and comforting, and it reflects the character of both our Lord and our Father. One day, Christians will bask in this light eternally. The following verse is reassuring to both children and adults:

Revelation 22:5
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light…

What a loving Father we have! He has given us His word that one day we will no longer have to grapple with darkness. There will be no more light bulbs or even lamps. Best of all, there will be no more spiritual darkness, just the light of God forever.

Until the eternal kingdom of light, we still have a responsibility before the Lord to walk in light. The good news is that this is a pleasant, not grievous, duty. When we walk in light, our lives are blessed, and we are in close fellowship with our Lord. We have joy and peace in our hearts knowing that we are doing God’s will. How many times have we heard from our parents (or ourselves) to turn the light off when we leave a room? When it comes to our daily walk, God says it is okay to “leave the light on” and LET THERE BE LIGHT!