[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n Saturday February 17 tensions ran high and silence befell the theatre in Havana, Cuba as the judges deliberated to announce their choice for Caribbean Queen at the 2018 ELAM (Latin-American School of Medicine) Caribbean Pageant. It was an intense moment for the five contestants who had represented their various countries in all their glory throughout the evening. The five ladies came from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Cheers and celebrations erupted as Miss Zenaida JnBaptiste, who represented our beautiful Saint Lucia, was declared and crowned Miss Caribbean 2018. Many Saint Lucian students took to the aisles and the stage in screams and chants to express their excitement and display their flags.
Standing, left to right: Miss Barbados, Miss Dominica and Miss Belize.
(Photo by Quantamie Wilson)
“It was such an amazing triumph” expressed one Saint Lucian student. “The passion and energy of every moment and being able to share it with your Saint Lucian family in Cuba, was just amazing. All the other contestants came tonight and brought their stronger foot forward and it ended up producing a very memorable event.”
Many Caribbean students who study in different provinces of Cuba flocked to the theatre in Havana, by plane, bus or truck, in order to be a part of this annual event. It was organised this year by a team of highly creative individuals, among them Saint Lucian Anya Williams, Vice President of the Caribbean Delegation. The integration of performances by various groups and individuals made for an enjoyable night as the pageant was well attended and graced with the presence of many ambassadors and high-ranking representatives of various countries, including Saint Lucia.
The pageant was divided into five categories, each worth a certain number of points: swimwear, costume, talent, evening wear and, of course, question and answer. Zenaida excelled in all categories, distinguishing herself in the costume segment where she wowed the judges and the audience with a spectacle never before seen on an ELAM’s Miss Caribbean stage. While others depicted their country’s style in a traditional manner of floor presentation, she decided to add a new dimension: she graced skillfully across the stage on 1.5-meter-tall stilts that accentuated the originality of her costume, which represented various aspects of Saint Lucian life.
For the talent section, Zenaida passionately expressed her emotion to her audience through a stellar dance performance which amazed the judges and received the award of best overall talent. Zenaida also received accolades for Miss Photogenic and Best Swimwear.
Zenaida JnBaptiste is a first-year medical student enrolled at the Latin-American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana who dedicated time and effort into preparation for a pageant with the full intention of making her family and country proud. When asked what winning the pageant meant to her, an emotional Zenaida responded, “It makes me feel like a cultural ambassador to Saint Lucia. To be able to amalgamate my experiences and display them as an expression of our culture, our ‘vibe’ and our uniqueness up on stage and be crowned victorious means the world to me. I hope to continue to be an example of excellence and an inspiration to more young women to step out of their comfort zone.”
Zenaida emphasised that the people of Saint Lucia be made aware that the Cuban scholarship awardees are doing more than studying in Cuba: “We’re trying our best, through cultural integration, to experience a taste of the many cultures represented here, as well as giving off a hefty piece of what makes us Saint Lucian.”
— By Rashad Prospere
