Miss April-Face of Zimbabwe, Sibo Bero is set to raise the Zimbabwean flag at an international fashion show to be held at Dalian Medical University in China, where she is currently studying medicine. The event on November 29, will be a showcase of different cultural, traditional and religious regalia. The purpose of the event is to fundraise for children in Zimbabwe whilst raising awareness of the country’s tourism destinations.
In an interview with Zim Life & Style Magazine, the stunning model and Face of Zimbabwe finalist said she had a great love for fashion and being in a university with a lot of international students she had been constantly intrigued by the beauty and diversity of clothing styles.
“In this place there are people from all over the world and coming from all sorts of religious backgrounds. I have a deep respect for all kinds of religion and I found this to be an opportunity to get a little more educated in that aspect. You see, some of the ladies wear head-wraps and I offered them the chance to model their religious dress and compose a few lines as to what it means to them and why they are proud of it. A number of people have already signed up for the auditions and I am very excited to see the colourful ensemble on the 29th.”
The picture perfect beauty will be using the Fashion Show as an awareness campaign for the charitable causes of Face of Zimbabwe Trust and also showcase Zimbabwe to her Chinese audience and hundreds of guests from other nationalities. Sibo says through a presentation she will make on the day she is hoping to get as many people as she can to sign up as sponsors to the children. Although she was only assigned two children Prudence Mugavazi and Arnold William she is set on providing sponsorship for more than just those two.
“I really believe in empowering people, the children we are focusing on already have guardians and in cases where it is possible I would want to see our assistance empower them so they can be capable of taking care of themselves and the children in their care. So this campaign which has taken up the adoptive title “My Brother’s Keeper” courtesy of Grace Mukombe, FOZ Charity Co-ordinator, is aimed at doing just that.
By my projection, I can see at least 200 people signing up to make a small contribution of about USD$5/month for a year. And I already have eighty people signed up. My vision is to start a fund now for a Face of Zimbabwe Outreach center in Zimbabwe that provides direct assistance for those in need and I have made a commitment to see this through for an entire year.
Five dollars less in anyone’s monthly budget can make a huge difference in the lives of these children who are in real need. I am also hoping a few people would be truly moved to go a step further and foster a relationship with these kids and facilitate it through letter-writing . People’s lives are going to change and this is through a commitment being made by numerous people from all over the world who I am highly indebted to. I hope the people of Zimbabwe may be inspired by such acts of love and realize they are capable of doing so much more for their own.”
Sibo says she would not have been able to organize the show if it wasn’t for IOMARC, which is International Organization for Medical Aid and Relief for Children(www.iomarc.org) . IOMARC is a group founded by passionate young people at Dalian Medical University, which has sent out aid to numerous places in times of disasters including Mongolia, North Korea and Japan. They will be holding a Halloween party concurrent with the Fashion Show and all the proceeds are set to go towards the Face Of Zimbabwe Campaign.
A spokesperson for Face of Zimbabwe, said “Face of Zimbabwe is about creating a platform for charity and marketing our country abroad and we are pleased that our models such as Sibo are using their beauty and brain to raise our flag in China in such a way”
