Nothing can ever stop a woman who is determined and on a mission. I was all set on the path to make a difference, and this time with the guidance and leadership of former beauty queens who left behind a legacy worth following!
In the very first episode of my new series #WomenOnAMission, I had the splendid opportunity to speak to one of the remarkable souls who made India proud by bagging the third Miss World crown in 1997, Diana Hayden.
With an aim to discuss their respective Beauty with a Purpose (BWAP) projects and to grasp much wisdom from the queen herself, I briefly discussed with her the initiatives of our projects.
Following her international win, Diana came to India for her grand homecoming ceremony and soon was part of her first project in association with the Hyderabad police. Reminiscing the chaos at the campaign, Diana said, "The whole setup was just so rough. It was all the rough stones and chairs all wobbly, and children on the streets begging."
It was indeed a great initiative through which kids who were made to beg on the streets by their parents themselves were taken into care, and we provided proper education with the help of the CAP Foundation. The CAP Foundation is a trust, Initiated as an innovative public-private partnership to demonstrate a model to address poverty alleviation through linking learning and livelihood needs of working children and disadvantaged youth at risk to equitable qualitative learning and promising labor market-oriented vocational training opportunities. The Foundation specializes in working with the most deprived, vulnerable, and difficult to reach sections of youth and women in poor urban and Peri-urban communities.
"It just started with the police taking the kids off the street and putting them in the center to be educated. That was the root of it, and now it's in Africa; it's in Asia. It gives me so much pride to have been a part of it, and that's what CAP was about. And I'm very humbly grateful for that," she added.
Even after her reign Diana continued her social mission and was part of several causes. She was named the ambassador for Child Relief and You (CRY) and associated with charities like Greenpeace, PETA, and the Spastic Society of India. We both hail from Telangana, Hyderabad, and have been associated with initiatives that revolve around the care and safety of vulnerable children.
My BWAP project 10-9-8 is about the safety and equity of children and primarily has three pillars to it:
1. It is all about awareness: The name of the project is 10-9-8 is, in fact, the national childcare helpline available 24/7, dedicated to the rescue of children in distress. And, as a first step towards spreading awareness, I ensured that every traffic signal in Hyderabad has a message and announcement that talks about this helpline.
2. Focusses on the rescue vehicle: As important as it is to have a child line which in fact works 24/7, we need to empower the rescue workers who work behind the process. After speaking to the commissioner of the Child Welfare Department, my team has assured that every district in the state will have a dedicated vehicle for the rescue operation.
3. It involves a lot of communication and a lot of relationship building: Through my project, I have had the opportunity to speak with a lot of children, a lot of rescue workers and was able to understand and be a part of their reality and witness the situation from a very different perspective.
Learning more about my BWAP project and work so far, Diana was thrilled and was incredibly proud and further expressed her gratitude for the commencement of the BWAP. She said, "I love, I love that Julia has started this because this is what Miss World is all about. And imagine you have 100 plus countries, 140 countries, each one of these girls, that's 140 girls making such a difference. And this is, you know, it's a game-changer."
Diana also shared a piece of advice with me. She said, "Be real and be yourself because if you pretend and you try to be something you're not, it's going to collapse. So just be yourself and absorb it because it is the most amazing experience. I would like to wish you the very, very best at Miss World. I hope you enjoy this experience because it is something that is unforgettable. All the best."
