Beautiful and smart

Saturday, November 29, 2008 (The Mirror Pg 3)
By Rebecca Kwei
It seems the “barrier” preventing medical students from participating in beauty pageants has been broken.
Until recently, it was almost impossible to find a medical student taking part in any beauty pageant. They were considered to be ‘book worms’ who were too busy to pay attention to non-academic pursuits as beauty pageants.
The myth seems to have been broken, as in the last two years medical students have claimed the crown at major national beauty pageants in the country.
Tamara Aku Dzormeku, a medical student won the Miss Malaika crown which was held at the National Theatre on November 21, 2008.
Twenty-one-year old Tamara followed her predecessor, Laurie Lawson, Miss Malaika Ghana 2007, who is also a medical student.
Interestingly, Tamara and Laurie are friends and both are in their third year at the University of Ghana Medical School.
This year’s Miss Ghana beauty pageant also had two medical students participating.
However, Tamara, does not think the barrier has been completely broken.
“Some lecturers are not in favour of it. It is not because they don’t like beauty pageants but they realise that the course is voluminous and needs more time to study,” she explained to The Mirror in an interview.
Explaining further, she said, “The lecturers are just like parents and they would want you to excel in your subjects. To some extent I understand them.”
Tamara, who is still basking in the joy of winning Miss Malaika 2008, said she lived by the ideology that one needed to maximise the potential he or she had because “He who endowed you with it will ask you to account for it some day.”
Obviously, she used that ideology in the competition which enabled her to come out tops.
For Tamara, “whatever your hands find doing, do it with the best of your ability”.
She said some people entered beauty pageants because they were beautiful but she believed one needed to have an “extra factor” — someone who was innovative and at the same time passionate about the underprivileged in society.
“It is not about just wearing the crown and going about as Miss this or that but also taking up the responsibility that comes along with it,” she said.
Malaika is a Swahili word meaning “my angel” and, according to Tamara, that meant as a Miss Malaika “you are an answer to someone’s prayer. You must be able to go the extra mile to put the smiles on people’s faces and be approachable. I thought about all these before entering the competition”.
Although it had not been a childhood dream to enter a beauty pageant, she said having watched previous episodes of the competition made her to believe that she had something in her to offer.
Additionally, she said, “Laurie was an inspiration. Her participation in the Miss Malaika 2007 edition motivated me to also participate.”
She observed that there were negative perceptions about beauty pageants but encouraged young girls that “whatever comes out of a beauty pageant depends on the individual. It is an opportunity to bring out what you have and help people in your own small way”.
For emerging Miss Malaika Ghana 2008, Tamara received a brand new KIA Cerato saloon car, plus GH¢2,400 and sponsors’ products.
Describing herself as very sociable, outgoing, someone who loves to make friends and share ideas, she said she believed that whatever one set out do by seeking the face of Christ, that person was sure of emerging victorious.
The eloquent and easy-going queen said it was not easy combining school with taking part in the competition but she had learnt to manage her time and that she used the least time she got to study.
She said she also had loyal and supportive friends to keep her informed on anything she might have missed.
Even now that she had won, she had an enormous task of combining her studies with granting interviews, as well as being a malaria youth ambassador, in collaboration with the National Malaria Control Board, she said.
On the malaria project, Tamara said she hoped to focus on prevention because she believed in the adage that “Prevention is better than cure”.
Born on July 8, 1987 to Benjamin Dzormeku and Stella Dzormeku, Tamara attended Presec Staff School and St Andrews Junior High School. She then continued at Holy Child Senior High School, Cape Coast. She is a native of Keta.
She hopes to specialise in gynaecology.
Tamara said her parents and friends were very proud of her, adding, “I am glad I made them happy.”
She said the mere thought of her parents made her reach for higher heights.

Christabel Ekeh
Christabel Ekeh completed St Mary’s Senior High School in May this year. While waiting at home for her results, she decided to grab the opportunity offered by the Miss Malaika organisers to take part in the competition.
And it paid off. She emerged the first runner-up in the contest. Christabel took home GH¢800 and sponsors’ products.
“Taking part in the competition has really boosted my confidence, improved my ability to articulate my thoughts and given me a lot of exposure,” she told The Mirror.
Christabel said when she was growing up she always wanted to be a beauty queen because she got very excited when she saw beauty queens on television.
She said she was very happy to have come this far because the competition had been very keen and the other contestants had been equally good.
She aspires to be a lawyer in future but for the moment would love to be a presenter on TV as she looks forward to entering the university.
Christabel, whose dad, Paul Ekeh, is a Nigerian, and her mum, Emma Odoom, a Ghanaian, was born on October 16, 1990 in Accra. She attended Santa Maria Complex for her basic and junior high education. She was the entertainment prefect at St Mary’s High School.
“I don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everyone” is her favourite saying.


Yvonne Kofigah
Yvonne Eyram Kofigah, who came third in the Miss Malaika 2008, attributes her success to the grace of God.
Although she had confidence of winning, she did not believe she was in the final three because “it was too good to be true”.
According to Yvonne, people were created for a particular reason.
“There are people with good voices; that’s why they are on radio. I believe I’ve been blessed with a beautiful face and figure and also confidence,” she noted.
She entered the Malaika pageant because she believed that pageant was decent and stood out from the other pageants.
For placing third, Yvonne was rewarded with GH¢500 and sponsors’ products.
Yvonne who was born on August 7, 1989 and completed Aburi Girls’ High School last year. Prior to that, she had been at the St Bernadette Soubirous School for her basic education. She would love to be a nurse, for which reason she is preparing to continue her education at the Korle-Bu Nursing Training School.
Her parents are Frank Kofigah and Adeline Kofigah and she hails from Whuti in the Volta Region.