Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek
Eight-year-old Maiya Ndeutala made another huge impact last month when she collected more than 200 sanitary pads, toilet paper and toiletries from the community of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay through her personal campaign, and donated all the items to the Grade 1-3 learners at the JB Brandt Primary School in Utuseb, a community in the Namib Desert in Erongo Region.
Maiya serves communities through collecting public donations and preparing meals for the less fortunate, and also collects second-hand clothes and sanitary pads for the less privileged.
All these began in 2016 when she started her modelling career, and first took a step on stage competing with other girls for Little Miss Swakopmund, where she was crowned first princess. Having a giving heart at such a young age, she donated second-hand clothes to a little girl she found in the street selling traditional fruits with her grandmother.
Giving back to the community was part of the requirements for Maiya to take part in Little Miss Swakopmund. Since then she has become passionate and keen to serve her community.
She occasionally prepares meals for distribution to people around DRC location in Swakopmund.
Maiya furthermore visited the old age home in Kuisebmond.
Maiya started this year with a hygiene campaign which went on for a month collecting toiletries and sanitary pads for the learners of JB Brandt at Utuseb village. Utuseb is situated in the Namib Desert, 40 kilometers out of Walvis Bay. People living there belong to the Topnaar community.
Maiya saw the community struggles with water and sanitation, and the area is not electrified. Resident rely on harvesting !Nara melons and survive on livestock farming and old age grants, which drove her to donate the items to them.
Apart from that, this year Maiya will be taking part in Miss Grand Namibia 2018, a national pageant in Windhoek in May. Her dream is to be crowned Miss Universe in the future, and also to be an ambassador of her communities and country at large. “With this, I want to be able to identify and help the less privileged people and care for them,” she says.
Maiya has won several accolades since the beginning of her modelling career. She was crowned first princess at Miss Swakopmund in 2016, Miss Princess Namibia 2016, Little Miss Walvis Bay 2017 and first princess in Little Miss Winter in Swakopmund the same year.
On the international level she added two accolades to her belt when she was crowned Beauty with a Purpose third runner-up and Platinum Award fourth runner-up at Miss Toddler and Teen of the World in South Africa last year. As she is patiently waiting to be on a national stage for the Miss Grand Namibia next month in the capital.
Maiya urges girls to take part in pageants as it helps them become community activists and be able to make a difference in their communities.