A free and easy spirit combined with a firm commitment to her community are among the qualities that helped earn 18-year-old Juliana Huisamen the title of Miss Ballito 2019 recently.

“I am still very excited and it is very overwhelming,” said Juliana.

“It was like a fairytale. Being a part of the whole experience was amazing. All the girls have such sweet and kind hearts. We were all supporting each other, it did not feel like a competition.”

Juliana is in Matric at The Haven Academy in Tongaat, where she is currently second in her grade. She says the best part of Miss Ballito was getting to do her community project.

This involved a special event that she put on for Haven of Rest, an NGO that is home to orphans, the elderly, and also houses a drug recovery centre. “Fiamma Grill made 31 pizzas for the home.

Mamma G’s sponsored crates full of cool drinks. We gave out blankets and toys and clothes, and spent time with the children there,” she said. This inspired Juliana to get involved further with the centre.

“I wanted to take the children somewhere, so I decided to do a beach clean-up here in Ballito.

“Thirty one kids came to the beach for the day and we had such an awesome time. Food Lover’s Market sponsored rolls, and we were also sponsored viennas and cool drinks. We started in Ballito and walked all the way past Zimbali Beach. The kids loved it.”

Each finalist of Miss Ballito needed two sponsors, but Juliana had many people keen to help her throughout the competition.

Her sponsors include At Dom’s B&B, Fiamma Grill, Joe Cools and Green Dragon.

“They were all so generous and really helped me throughout my journey.”

All money is raised for Rotary Zimbali and funds are distributed to Rotary approved charities. Matric is a busy year, but Juliana is not fazed about managing the demands of Miss Ballito on top of her school work.

“My school’s motto is ‘Dare the Impossible’,” a motto which she says has proved inspirational for her.

The hours from 8am to 3pm are reserved for school, but after that, Juliana is free to be Miss Ballito and perform all the necessary duties.

“I am working on my projects that I want to do in the future, modelling events for example.”

She is set to model along with the first and second princesses at The King of the Shorebreak event, a bodysurfing competition scheduled for August 31.

In her downtime, Juliana loves to be at the beach.

“I love surfing. I also love paddle boarding on the lagoon in Umdloti.”

The ambitious teen has been accepted to study law at Varsity College in Durban North next year.

“I have always wanted to study law,” she said.

“I would like to open my own law firm one day.”

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