First ever Miss Deaf Jamaica crowned

History was made when Jamaica's first Miss Deaf Jamaica queen was recently crowned.

Out of a field of eight vibrant and talented contestants who represented Kingston, St Catherine, Clarendon and St Ann, Miss Spanish Town, Cassandra Whyte walked away with the coveted title, and the best personality sectional award at the December 18 show held at the YMCA.

First runner-up was Miss Portmore, Kadrieka Thomas, while second runner-up went to Miss South Kingston, Toneika Kidd. Miss St Andrew, Kimberly Brown, won the prize for best smile while Miss West Kingston, Yakera James copped the award for best walk.

The evening's entertainment package was rounded off by performances from the Danny Williams and Lister Mair Gilby schools for the deaf dance troupes.

Cassandra Whyte will represent Jamaica for the first time at the annual Miss Deaf World and Miss Deaf International events in Europe and the United States respectively, come July 2011. The winners of each event will become ambassadors for the deaf community worldwide.

Among her prizes, the newly crowned Miss Deaf Jamaica, Cassandra Whyte, was presented with a one-year gym membership, valued at $60,000, to the Spartan Health Club by the general manager, Dr Terri-Karelle Reid, along with prizes from other main sponsors like Purity Bread, Island Grill and Red Stripe.

Something different

The event was organised by Rian Gayle, Chairman of Miss Deaf Jamaica (MDJ), a new entity formed earlier this year. Its purpose, among other things, is to help prevent and or reduce incidents of violence, abuse, oppression, exploitation, and unemployment at the community level and within the wider Jamaican society, through promotion of the pageant and other activities.

Gayle, who is deaf himself, pointed out that this organisation is more than just a beauty pageant.

"I wanted this to be something different. Over the years, I have been disheartened by the situations involving deaf women where they have been abused, neglected and not much attention given to them where development is concerned. Knowing that the ladies love beauty pageants, I used this medium to attract them while placing emphasis on self-respect, self-esteem, self-control and self-prosperities that would enable them to be advocates and spokeswomen for the deaf community in the future," he said.

It is Gayle's hope and the entire deaf community's, that this endeavour will tackle one of the most pressing social issues in Jamaica - young women with disabilities.

The winner was crowned by Kerry Moxam, first runner-up in the 2010 Miss Jamaica World Pageant and eighth place finalist in the 2010 Miss Intercontinental Contest recently held in the Dominican Republic.