At the 62nd edition in 2012, Atong Demach became the first ever representative from South Sudan 🇸🇸. Within this edition, Atong not only placed as a semi-finalist through winning the Top Model challenge event, she went as far as the Top 7. Many who watched this edition will remember her powerful answer to the question of ‘Why should you be the next Miss World?’ to which she answered:

“As a young girl growing up in a country with wars, seeing my people homeless, poor without education and losing someone every single day; If I am here today it’s because I’ve learned to take every day as a new chance to learn more, to give more, and to love more. I believe we truly make life of what we give and there’s nothing more wonderful than making a child’s mind and have a great hope for a better future. That’s the beauty I stand for and that’s beauty with a purpose.”

Chills. It was said that she placed 3RU (or fourth) though this was not announced during the telecast. One thing is for certain, Atong made history for her country and was an incredible Miss World Africa. She exemplified her words as living ‘beauty with a purpose’ far into her life post Miss World.