Black skin is rich and beautiful

Pamela Aleper hails from Karamoja region and a final year law student at Uganda Christian University. The recently crowned beauty Queen of Miss Africa Golden, 2020 spoke to Maureen Nakatudde about her crown and personal life.

How was the experience?

When it started, it was hard financially. When we went to Nigeria, we forgot about the financial bills we had put in and started enjoying the journey. I got to interact with various contestants from different African countries.

What projects were you given to do?

I was not told any projects because I have already mine.  As a queen, you are supposed to come up with projects.   In December 20, 2020, I visited the maternal ward.  I have also done campaigns on child trafficking. Since CMC is the brand ambassador, they will provide 10,000 pads in Uganda in different regions

How many finalists were you?

We were 30 finalists and they zeroed to me, the first runner was  Bernice Ibeziako from Nigeria and the Second runner up was Naza Spectanaza, also from the same country.

Will you contest for Miss Uganda?

I feel like I have done a Ugandan pageant when I was Miss Tourism in 2016, I do not want to do  that again: I want to engage in International Pageants

 What attracts you to pageants?

Pageants give a platform form to air out your views. Furthermore, once you enter the competitions, you were never left the same. The things you get from there, you cannot get elsewhere. You can stand for the vulnerable people in the community, which can be difficult on an individual basis.

Pageants are known to rock with sexual abuse, was it there in Nigeria?

In Nigeria, there was no sexual abuse. I just saw trainers training girls on what is supposed to be done. I have heard of it, but I have never experienced it.

What beauty secrets did you learn from Nigeria?

 When you wake up, you have to do some light make up to look beautiful. At night, you are not supposed to cleanse your face in order to have a smooth skin.

Which position in the family are you?

I am the first born among six children born to Peter Lokwang and Maggie Pulokro, who are business people in Karamoja. These also sponsored my journey to Nigeria.

What do you hope to achieve with the crown?

I hope to reach out to the unprivileged people in the society like mothers and children.

Ten years from now, what will you be doing?

I want to be Chief Executive Officer running my own company of pageantry. Right now, I run Palm Blue pageant house that offers mentorship mostly to girls who would love to join the pageant world. I would love it to be very big.

What advise do you give to young girls who are in the relationship?

I would tell the young girls in a relationship like in primary and secondary level, it is not healthy.  They should first focus on their education   because relationships are not running away: you can find them any time. We have seen women of 30 and 40 years join them.  Going into a relationship pre-maturely can destroy your future.

Some campusers are known in their final years to be pregnant and elope with their boyfriends, how did you escape that ?

I decided to focus on myself instead of another person.

I am sorry, I have to ask this question, I see you are light skinned yet people from your area are dark, is that for real?

 I would say every tribe has light and dark people.  It is wrong to allude that this tribe is for only people with  such a skin colour.

What can you say about girls who bleach?

I would advise them not to change their skin colour because it is not healthy for them.

 What advice can you give to dark skinned young women?

I admire them because that skin is rich and beautiful. Mostly, in the pageant and modelling world, when they see  a dark girl, they consider her to be very beautiful. So, they are beautiful the way they are.