Local beauty a pageant finalist
Milly is a 20-year-old Financial Accounting student at North-West University who likes to describe herself as a helpful, perfectionistic and passionate young woman with an inextinguishable love for empowering women.
“Your circumstances don’t define you, but refine you, turning the ashes of your past into the diamonds of your future” – Unknown.
This is what might come to mind for some when asked about Miss Commonwealth finalist, Milly Hanedzani.
Milly is a 20-year-old Financial Accounting student at North West University who likes to describe herself as a helpful perfectionistic and passionate young woman with an inextinguishable love for empowering women.
What makes her journey so profoundly special is the fact that she was born and bred in a disadvantaged community known as Rietvallei – a township west of Johannesburg.
“I come from a background where teenage pregnancies are a daily reality. The reason, I figured, might be because these girls have nothing and no-one to look up to,” she said.
“This is one of the reasons I fell in love with social development. I know what it’s like to live under these circumstances. These beautiful young girls need some sort of model to look up to. I want to empower them.”
Even though Milly never thought of herself as a pageant person, she went on to participate in two university pageants that were held last year.
Since then, she has assisted in hosting various other pageants at her university and local schools.
“I was starting to see potential in myself, but I knew I wanted to do it for a cause; a purpose. I combined my love for women empowerment and my love for pageantry, and it led me to Miss Commonwealth,” she said.
Soon after, she was contacted and informed that she was one of the 11 Miss Commonwealth 2018 finalists. According to Milly, all the finalists were invited to an empowerment session where various speakers talked to them about health issues, social issues faced by young women and self-branding.
She added that this motivated her even more to help other people, especially women, to develop themselves.
“People tend to think that men should lead, but that’s not how it should be. Society is bringing women down and that’s where I want to change the mindset. Women should lead to set an example,” she said.
As part of being a finalist, Milly has to accumulate as many donations and sponsorships as possible in aid of the pageant’s Zingce Foundation for girls. In affiliation with this foundation, she has started her own initiative – One Girl at a Time – to which volunteers can donate anything a girl child can use. She also aims to continue with this project after the crowning.
Two of her visions include opening an education centre as well as a women empowerment centre in Rietvallei sometime in the future. With this, she aims to bridge the gap between young girls and young women.
“I want to implement self-branding. It’s so extremely important for young girls to know their worth and what they’re capable of. But, for one to break through, one needs to first break down,” she said.
She is currently involved in various charity projects and wants to encourage young women to never give up on their dreams and to set goals for themselves.
The crowning of Miss Commonwealth will take place in Germiston in late December. If you want this local beauty to walk away with the crown, feel free to SMS 07 to 32113.
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