Miss World BWAP Tour Kicks Off In India
The reigning Miss World, Manushi Chhillar, has started her 42 day Beauty With A Purpose tour in her motherland of India. Chhillar will be joined by the 6 continental queens, Miss World 2016, Puerto Rico's Stephanie del Valle, and the CEO of Miss World, Julia Morley. Barney Walsh, who presented the competition for the first time last year, is joining the team to make a documentary about their BWAP work.
The focus of the Indian leg of the tour is an extension of Chhillar's Beauty With A Purpose project, Feminine Hygiene Awareness. They started their tour in Hyderabad, collaborating with the Government of Telangana. The reigning Miss World made her goal not only to raise awareness about the importance of proper feminine hygiene but also to provide low cost sanitary napkins to women in rural areas. Joining Miss World on stage were the continental queens of Africa (Miss Kenya), Asia (Miss Korea), Europe (Miss England), Oceania (Miss New Zealand), Americas (Miss Mexico) and the Caribbean (Miss Jamaica).
Following their visit to Hyderabad, the team left for Kolkata where they met with children at New Lights Kolkata. The mission also touched based in Darjeeling where they met with women and children there. Another highlight was meeting the Vice President of the India, His Excellency Venkaiah Naidu, to explain the purpose of their trip to India and world tour. The makers of the eco friendly sanitary napkins explained that this will not only benefit the women of India and their health, but it also will have a non-damaging effect on the environment. The Vice-President commended them for their work and commented that this endeavor was addressing a great need in India and around the world. They Miss World delegation also had the honour of meeting Minister Of External Affairs for India, Honourable Minister Sushma Swaraj.
In New Delhi, the team met local school children before attending a press conference attended by hordes of journalist to shed light on the work that they have and will be doing in India and around the world. Speaking to the press, Chhillar said, "I studied in Haryana to see the other side of life as a medical student, and got to know how women didn’t have enough money to buy sanitary pads and would often use old rags or a piece of cloth during periods.” Morley went on to explain that her organisation felt the need to move the project ahead.
During their time in India, the team also attended the official press conference to launch the Miss India 2018 contest. Chhillar met the very first Miss India, Meher Castelino Mistry, at this event. Another highlight was their visit to the remote region of West Bengal close to the Himalays where they met with excited fans. The team will visit a total of eight cities before moving on to the next leg of the tour in China.
Information and photos compiled for Global Beauties by Andre Sleigh (@andre.sleigh)
Sourced from Indian media, Miss India and Miss World facebook pages
