Reigning Miss Pacific Islands Abigail Havora is in Samoa counting down her final days as the face of the Pacific region.
Havora is a 25 year old medical student of Papua New Guinea.
“It’s been great, I got to travel and represent not only my country Papua New Guinea in regional and even global conferences,but the Pacific as a whole by being an ambassador for many things from Climate Change resilience to raising awareness on proper health care,” she said.
At the end of the week, Havora will crown the new face and ambassador for Pacific island countries.
Havora believes being crowned Miss Pacific Islands isn’t about having a beautiful face or charismatic behavior.
“I think when you are about to choose the next Miss Pacific Islands, we have to look at the contestant herself. When you wear this crown, you don’t just carry your country’s legacy, now you carry all of the countries’ legacies and cultures,” she added.
“So it’s a very big responsibility for any woman to have to carry especially when you’re still very young. When I became Miss Pacific Islands, it did not come with any instruction manuals, I had to pick up the pace at what I was doing,” she said.
Havora said juggling school and her responsibilities of Miss Pacific islands this year was extremely tough.
“It was hard, however, I learnt overtime that I can’t just focus on being Papua New Guinea’s champion, I had to be every island’s champion. So basically being Miss Pacific means taking your strengths and apply those to every culture and island in the Pacific,” she said.
“By doing that we establish a connection as a region,” added Havora.
Havora is in Savai’i with eight contestants from Pacific island countries who are competing for this year’s crown.
The contestants are touring Savaii and visiting tourist attractions on the Big Island.
Havora hopes that by spending time with the contestants, it would help them become better prepared to take on the role, at the same time enjoy the moment and savour their stay in Samoa.