Beauty contestants preparing for Hiri Moale Festival

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By OLIVE SUKUN
THE 14 Hiri Hanenamo contestants gathered at a boot camp in preparation for the Hiri Moale Festival this weekend at Port Moresby’s Ela Beach.
The 2019 Hiri queen contestants met with Miss Pacific Islands pageant representative Lewa Kanah for a workshop on beauty, etiquette and grooming in the lead-up to the event.
National Capital District board commissioner Mea Lou-Isaac said: “This workshop is part of the ladies’ boot camp to prepare them for their self confidence in preparation for the festival.”
“It is important for the ladies to know how to groom and look after themselves for such occasions.”
Lou-Isaac explained that the contestants would be taken through a self-confidence test, the history of Motu-Koita, the Hiri trade and traditional beliefs and values that the contestants needed to know and understand in order to be true ambassadors of the Motu-Koita people.
Lou-Isaac said the boot camp would basically help them prepare for what was expected of them and what they would be expecting.
Winnie Dennis, 23, and Salote Alewa, 24, representing the Boera village, made similar remarks that their stance to contest the Hiri crown was for the pride of the first historical voyage from Central to Gulf launched in Boera.
Meanwhile, Nao Boga, 24, from Ela Vala, said her target audience to teach and maintain her culture with would be children between the ages of seven and 15.
“I would still take time to go into elementary and primary schools to teach children to weave different crafts using bush material,” Boga said.