Miss Namibia 2017: From Rehoboth, with love

… Suné outlines journey to the Miss Namibia crown

GROWING up in the dusty streets of Rehoboth, Suné January (SJ) always dreamed that one day she would wear the country’s most prestig­ious tiara.
This past weekend, the 23-year-old’s dream became a reality at the Windhoek Country Club Resort, when she was crowned Miss Namibia 2017.
Romilly Mouton was the first princess and Ressia Mutwamezi won the second princess title.
Suné is a Bachelor of Computer Appli­cations graduate from Bangalore Univer­sity in India.
She has in the past described the Miss Namibia pageant as “a wonderful plat­form to bring about change in our coun­try.”
In an interview with Confidente’s Jeof­frey Mukubi (JM), Suné spoke about her unique plans to combat poverty and poaching, during her reign.
And how she knew her life had changed, when was announced as Miss Namibia 2017.
JM: The most obvious questions are: Did you expect to win the crown? Where you confident? How did you feel when you won?
SJ: No, I did not expect to win, because everyone did so well. I was pretty confi­dent, and believed I would do well, but when I won, I knew at that moment that my life was going to change.
JM: How did your grandfather play a role in encouraging or motivating you to win this prestigious crown?
SJ: My grandfather raised me, as I did not have a father in my life; so the mo­ment the crown was placed on my head, I knew that it would have made him proud, and it was a very sad experience for me, when he passed away last year, because my grandparents raised me.
JM: Did you have any formal beau­ty pageant training? Is this your first beauty pageant? Why did you decide to enter?
SJ: I have no formal training, but I had the opportunity to walk down a ramp, as a model. Being a model and partaking in pageantry are two totally different things. I did, however, take part in a beauty pag­eant at my former high school in 2011. After that, people always encouraged me to enter Miss Namibia, but I did not want to be ‘that girl’, who comes straight out of high school and enters the competition, without any proper experience. I always wanted to enter Miss Namibia, ever since I was a little girl; I looked up to everyone that won, and I have always wanted to be part of the Miss Namibia pageant, but I never really thought that I could actually win.
JM: Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Where did you attend school?
SJ: I was born and raised in the dusty streets of Rehoboth. I went to M&K Gertze in Grade 8, and I attended the rest of my high school at Dr Lemmer.
JM: How big is your family, do you have siblings?
SJ: I have a mother and also have a brother, who is 14, and a little sis­ter, who is five. And since I was raised by my grandparents, my mother’s younger siblings ended up being like my own siblings, and her older siblings are more like my parents, so you can say that I have a pretty big family.
JM: What are the pro­jects that you would want to work on during your Miss Namibia reign?
SJ: Well the project I wanted to focus on is sav­ing the rhino, as poach­ing is a huge problem in our country. I want to be part of a genera­tion that saves an en­dangered species. So many people failed, while trying to save extinct animals like the Dodo bird. I want Namibia to be victorious in saving the rhino. I would also want to com­bat poverty, with an initiative I’m aspir­ing to start called, ‘Your change, one dollar at a time’. I’m intending to target only 200 000 work­ing Namibians, to do­nate one dollar every month, which could ultimately go a long way in helping various communities in our country.
JM: Finally, what would you like to say to the other 11 finalists, who did not win?
SJ: They all were very fabulous, beautiful and strong. I learned so much from each one of them. I would also like them to never give up on their dreams and to always take chanc­es in life, because you never know, unless you have tried. They should also not stop being role models, because that is who we were, when we were selected as the top 12. I would like to wish them all the best in their future endeavours. I will definitely involve them in all my charity projects, which I’m plan­ning to do.