Miss Greengold Amelia Yacalevu proved that she was confident to win Miss Seaqaqa Carnival charity crown when she read out her prepared thank you speech.

The crowd gathered at Seaqaqa Primary School outside Labasa on Saturday night and heard the 14-year-old lass attribute her win to her family, sponsors, school teachers and management.

The Year Eight student of Narailagi Village in Seaqaqa, Macuata Province raised $14,100.

“The five days of carnival had been a wonderful experience and I would like to thank everyone who supported me,” Amelia said.

“Greengold means the pine trees and this name was given to me by a collective group of sponsors such as Green Gold Company, Yacalevu Investment, Dreketi Contractors and Fiji Forest Industries.”

Aspiring to become a doctor, Amelia said she put her faith on her sponsors.

“I wouldn’t have been wearing this crown if it wasn’t for my sponsors’ kind generosity,” the eldest of five siblings said.

“They had assured me that I would win the crown and therefore, accordingly I prepared my speech.

“I wasn’t much focused on my attire, because I didn’t want to cause trouble to my sponsors.

“My aim was to always tell the crowd that I would surely contribute to the purpose of this carnival and it was to raise funds for the construction of a pre-school for my school,” she said.

The First Runner-up, Miss Natua Kinisimere Kotomacawarua raised $9381 and the second runner-up, Miss BDC Kelera Wasaliwa raised $9000.

The chief guest at the crowning night, Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Mahendra Reddy congratulated the five queen contestants and thanked them for taking a bold step to help the school organise to raise funds for their preschool. Edited by Jonathan Bryce

Feedback:  shratikan@fijisun.com.fj