US-based Jolie Bwiza has her eyes set on becoming the first Rwandan to win the Miss Washington for America pageant. The 22-year old is one of 13 contestants vying for the crown ahead of the grand finale slated for August 14. Born in Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Rubavu, District, Bwiza has been a legal resident of the United States since 2016 after she was granted a refugee permit to live there. She is now a full-time student and part-time caregiver at a senior centre in Tacoma, Washington. She is also a youth mentor. A junior in college at Saint Martin’s University majoring in Political Science, Bwiza has also been a passionate model for over a year and a half but has never competed in any beauty contest before deciding to participate in Miss Washington for America. Her intention to participate in the contest has a direct connection to Victoria’s Voice, a green awareness campaign against drug abuse among immigrants, because of the high rate of drug and alcohol abuse by young immigrant foster care youth who struggle to find self confidence in their new and often lonely environments. “I want to be an advocate for foster care children. I did research and I found out that there are young refugees and immigrants who come to this country and live with American families because they don’t have any other choice when they leave their homes and end up doing drugs and alcohol,” she tells Weekender in an interview. She did a fundraising campaign called Victoria Voice for organisers to ensure she can create a life-changing platform for society. Her platform was later approved. Bwiza hopes to use that platform to advocate for young immigrants to set them free from the life they go through during their time in caregiver centres in Washington. At first, Bwiza was encouraged to start competing in smaller beauty pageants before thinking about contesting for Miss Washington for America. “To be honest I had no idea of what I was supposed to do in the contest in the beginning and a colleague of mine who had experience in beauty pageants, as a former Miss Africa Washington, advised me to go for smaller beauty contests so that I could join this competition prepared. But I decided to move on because I have an objective I must achieve. Trying doesn’t cost too much,” she says. As a former refugee, Bwiza wants to be the face of change in the life of foster care for many young immigrants and refugees who end up in drug use and alcohol and care little about going to school, hence, lose focus on what they wanted to achieve in life. “I found out that there is a bug in the number of people who use alcohol because they don’t have hope. They live lonely in the country and feel traumatised by the life they are going through, but people are quick to judge their behaviour yet they don’t know what they have been through. I used to live in foster care in American families where they want you to live the way they want. It’s a life with which you don’t have a choice,” she says. “I decided to shape my project around their lives because I have that experience that is coupled with other life experiences I can’t share now because of my past. I look forward to using this platform to empower these young girls in foster care, especially girls who are immigrants and refugees,” she adds. Bwiza is currently a Tacoma Chapter Leader for Mockingbird Society, an advocate for foster care youth, a mentor to immigrant youth, a motivational speaker, advocate for homelessness, a member of the Washington Supreme Court Commission of Children in Foster Care and represents foster care children in the court, an experience she hopes will be instrumental to successfully support her platform. To ensure that her platform succeeds, Bwiza works with an organisation that advocates for young people experiencing foster care and homelessness. She is a member of that organisation. The winner of the beauty contest will be decided based on their projects, swimsuit walk and how contestants will fare when they face a six-person panel of judges for interviews.
