5 minute read
Prisca Anyolo Miss Namibia 2024
A long while away from the village in the north where she was born and raised, on a disco-lit stage, in a full hall and over ten thousand streaming viewers, Prisca Anyolo was crowned Miss Namibia 2024 in Lüderitz. Two weeks later, scurrying from dress fittings to coaching sessions, I sat down with the journalist and content marketer who will wear our country across her chest and on her shoulders at the Miss Universe 2024 pageant in November.
Many beauty queens’ journey to holding the national title, not unlike the path to success of many everyday individuals, has started with a hard “no.” When Prisca took part in Miss Namibia 2021 and didn’t get the job, she was heartbroken. While admitting that the experience took its toll on her mental health, the queen reiterated that “failure is not a reflection of your efforts.” She gave the pageant her all, but it just wasn’t her time to win the crown. Prisca dusted off her platform heels in December last year and began rigorous training and preparation for the pageant, determined to rise to the occasion in her last year of age eligibility. She insists that claiming your second chances is key to building the life you desire. “Nobody owes you anything, it’s up to you to go out there and get it,” says Prisca.
Besides being a pretty, pintsized, multiple pageant title winner, it’s Prisca’s advocacy work that undoubtedly set her apart in the eyes of Miss Namibia’s judging panel. Crowning Gardens in collaboration with Urban Harvest focuses on food security and subsistence farming capacity building for local communities. Raised by her grandparents in rural Namibia, Prisca grew up cultivating a green thumb. It made perfect sense then for her to apply this knowledge and passion to what she gives back to Namibia. Crowning Gardens, which saw its first soil-based garden pilot in Havana, Katutura, aims to educate Namibians about the importance of nutrition through fresh fruit and veggies and create community gardens where the shared responsibility and output help eradicate poverty. Prisca’s goal is to teach Namibians how to grow their own food, so that they may be fed for a lifetime.
Working as an entertainment television presenter in Dubai for a few years following her work as Namibian delegation at the Dubai 2020 Expo, Prisca returned home with a heavy heart. She chose to chase a big dream of working and living internationally, and speaks earnestly about the disappointment of that dream not panning out as planned. Working multiple jobs in Dubai to make ends meet and feeling the pressure of returning somewhat defeated, it was her parents who gently gestured to her to come home and close that door. Luckily, she is a glass-half-full kind of person and kept on knocking. “Imagine if I let my own limiting beliefs stop me,” she says. Well, then Prisca surely wouldn’t be wearing “Namibia” in all caps on a sash, where she is representing our nation at Miss Universe in Mexico during the month of November.
Curious about the frequently cited “sisterhood” in pageantry, I ask Prisca if it exists. She insists it remains integral. We cannot ignore the element of competition, but this beauty queen believes that if the other women on that stage look good, so do you, and vice versa. In rehearsals for Miss Namibia 2024, Prisca admits that she was not a ‘twirler’ and sought guidance from her fellow finalists on how to ace her pageant walk.
Nobody owes you anything, it’s up to you to go out there and get it,” says Prisca.
The key to this so-called sisterhood is knowing what sets you apart, and what you bring to the table. This way, a queen like Prisca can share a tip from her black-book, and executed by another unique woman, the outcomes will be entirely different. Let this be a note to us laymen that fixing someone else's crown doesn’t diminish the sparkle of your own.
Preparing for the stage appearance of a lifetime is nerve wracking, no doubt. Doing it in three months, the endless outfits, interviews and remaining present for the journey, that’s a challenge. Luckily, our Prisca was preparing for Miss Namibia as if it were Miss Universe. She did not hold back on this journey, admitting that she might have been a bit extra in the process. As demure and introverted as Prisca might be, she’s a stickler for preparation and says “That’s when I know I’m on the right track, when people tell me I’m doing too much.”
A precious symbol of the Namibian people, Prisca will certainly carry our flag high on that stage. Yet, it is what’s in store for her return home, the work in food security, poverty alleviation and female empowerment that we hope to see her carry out across our nation, that will leave its lasting impact on the hearts of the land of the brave.
