Hengali girl crowned

By MALUM NALU in Lae
HENGALI village beauty Noelyn Kahata was crowned Miss Ahi 2012 at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium Indoor Complex in Lae, Morobe, last Friday night.
Kahata, 21, beat contestants from the other five Ahi villages – Miss Yalu Dodo Miul, Miss Kamkumung Jasmine Hasu, Miss Butibam Pamela Delabu, Miss Yanga Aito Aiten and Miss Wagang Anna Sekep – to be crowned in front of a full house of predominantly Ahi villagers.
It was all part of the four-day Ahi Festival – involving the six Ahi villages of Yalu, Kamkumung, Hengali, Butibam, Yanga and Wagang.
Other events included a carols-by-candlelight on Saturday night, and four days of sports.
Kahata was crowned by Miss Ahi 2010 Christine Amos from Yanga village.
She received K3,000 from major sponsor Riback Stevedores, K25,000 infrastructure projects for her village, a tertiary scholarship, celebration costs for her village and a laptop.
The four judges for the event included Lae-based Miss PNG 2012 Lorraine Rifu.
Kahata is an open and distance learning student at the PNG University of Technology in Lae and works for Oxford Medical Supplies.
“I’m proud of the work that Ahi Festival major sponsor Riback Stevedores and other sponsors are doing to help our young people in the six Ahi villages in Lae,” Kahata said.
“I hope to proudly carry out the work of Miss Ahi from 2012-14.”
There was no prouder person that night than her father Ben John Kahata, who was with wife Taiyo to celebrate their daughter’s win.
“I’m very proud of my daughter,” he said.
“I’m happy that Noelyn made it.”
Other prizes were for Ms Traditional (Miss Yalu), judges’ choice (Miss Kamkumung), second runner-up (Miss Butibam), first runner-up (Miss Yanga), and Miss Traditional (Miss Yanga).
They all received various prizes including a tertiary scholarship.