Hi, My name is
Michillay
Brown
My profession is
UNISA Environmental
Sciences graduate
2015 Wits BSC
honours student
Delta
Environmental Centre- Environmental Educational Officer
Miss Earth
South Africa 2014/2015 Ambassador
TMTV SA
Entertainment News Online Television Presenter
What does it mean to be an ambassador for Miss Earth?
Being an
ambassador for Miss Earth South Africa is about embodying what it means to be
an environmental advocate for young women and most importantly for the youth of
today. It means that one is committed and compassionate about continuing the
sustainability of the Earth and the earth’s resources. A green ambassador is someone who is courageous and caring enough to be the
voice for an entity that cannot speak, that entity being our very own environment.
Being a Miss Earth ambassador means not only voicing ones concerns about
environmental and societal destruction , but also becoming fully involved and
hands on, being proactive environmental leaders in our society. Where all Miss
Earth Ambassadors are concerned, actions have certainly spoken louder than
words. Embodying the green movement and the movement of service to others has
become a lifestyle rather than merely a duty.
How did you start your Miss Earth journey?
I began my
Miss Earth journey in March 2014. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had
heard about Miss Earth South Africa in previous years and it lingered in the
back of my mind for years. Until 2014 arrived and I was absolutely adamant on
filling out my application forms and getting them in before the due date.
Something
about 2014 felt right, something within me wanted to be involved so badly,
despite weary and uninformed opinions of friends and family members. After
submitting my application I was called by Rowena Plaatjies (Miss Earth Project Coordinator) for a mass interview and workshop day which commenced that April
at GoldReef City. Bright and early I was ready for this
new experience and little did I know…a major chapter that shaped my entire
life was about to take place.
Greeted by
Rowena at the conference venue, filled with eager young ladies;
differing from body shapes, sizes, ages, cultures and expectations. Arriving with my
pillar of strength, my number one supporter and best friend (Mommy) right by my
side, we calmly took a seat at the very back row next to a similar mom and
daughter couple. The day
commenced with various informative environmentally friendly workshops by
various organizations, partners and sponsor.
Although
the moment that lured me even deeper into this journey was the moment when
speeches were given by; Miss Earth South Africa Educational Officer, Ella Bella
and former (very first) Miss Earth International, Founder and National Director
of Miss Earth South Africa, Catherine Constantinides.
When these remarkable women took the stage to
share their journey as Entrepreneurs, Earth Warriors, Global Green Leaders and the powerful force behind the success of
the organization; I was in absolute awe… (this is where I strongly believed I
belonged). My name was
called up to be interviewed in a side room with a panel of judges whose faces I
couldn’t remember to this day (due to nerves lol), however I was confident,
eager and determined to become a green game changer. The top 85 national
semi-finalists were to be announced a few weeks following that interview. The
day came to an end and as I say…The rest is history that is still being made.
I wouldn’t
call it so much of a want, but more like a divine calling and urge to be a part
of this absolutely extraordinary and influential organization and the
phenomenal work that they do. Something inside me was burning with a passionate
desire to become actively involved in society and to live a life of purpose!
What are the qualities of Miss Earth South Africa?
Miss Earth
South Africa is a woman who believes in the empowerment of both women and men,
the empowerment of both the girl child and boy child. A woman that thrives in a
communal work and a team leader in all instances. Miss Earth must desire
independence through interdependence, because together we achieve so much more.
Miss Earth
is someone that has the ability to command an audience and to influence the
minds of those from various backgrounds and cultures. Miss Earth is a strong
and powerful woman, yet also a nurturer, a care giver, a genuine bright light
in the lives of those that she may encounter. Miss Earth fully embodies and
represents the lifestyle of a society that needs to participate in the green
movement. Therefore Miss Earth must be a representation of promoting a
sustainable future, environmentally friendly practices and the confidence and
knowledge to spread the word about the importance of going green.
What are some of the responsibilities that Miss Earth is
tasked with?
The Miss
Earth Ladies are tasked with environmental upliftment by means of implementing
a food garden at a local primary school with the children assisting in the
implementation of the project. The ladies are to preferably implement their
project at an underprivileged school, in order to actively teach the children and
staff about food sustainability and the ability to be self-sufficient and the
low costs accompanied with the benefits of their own food gardens.
During
World Environment Week, up to 75 Miss Earth ladies nation-wide are tasked with
planting over ten trees in their local communities where environmental
replenishment is needed most. Along with
the hands-on environmental awareness projects; Miss Earth is continuously
involved with fundraising initiatives, stationery, clothing and food drives in
areas all over South Africa and is responsible for being a positively
influential role model to many young school children that we interact with on a
regular basis.
Miss Earth
is also tasked with a large social responsibility as a public figure; this
entails hosting environmental workshops, addressing thousands of people at
conferences and schools, attending relevant social events, participating in
fun-day’s and active lifestyle events, as well as being an outstanding
representative at official Government and corporate gatherings. Miss Earth is
also largely responsible for representing the company through media; television
appearance, radio interviews and campaigns. Miss Earth is placed in a position
where significant influential power must be accompanied with knowledge,
maturity, leadership and elegance at all times.
Is there a “ward” you are responsible for? If so, how do you
take care of it?
We are not
assigned a particular ward per se, however, the Miss Earth finalists are each
responsible for a number of schools in their area. The responsibility of each girl
is to adopt the school and the group in the school that form part of the
“Generation Earth” (GE) community. GE is founded by Ella Bella, our Educational Officer. A group of active and interested Earth warriors come together to
initiate going green events and social gatherings to do environmentally
friendly work around the country. The Miss Earth girl in charge of the school
is there to act as a leader and an inspiration, getting actively involved and
ensuring that there is continuous communication and meetings concerning
potential green projects within and outside of the school.
How important is it to take care of our Earth?
We are
entirely dependent on our Earth for survival, so it is vitally important to take
care of every aspect of our Earth and to live a balanced life that does not
diminish our resources or degrade our land.
We should treat our Earth like we treat our bodies; it is our life
support system that should not be abused, mistreated, neglected or disrespected.
The idea of sustaining our Earth and its resources should be a lifestyle
mentality and not a chore.
What are some of the important things you want people to
know about our Earth?
Every
aspect of our ecosystem is dependent on each other for survival; from our
non-living resources (such as our sun, air, water and soil) to our living
organisms such as plants, animals and human beings. We are all intricately
connected and one cannot survive without the other.
If we
destroy or deplete any of our natural resources we will affect our entire
ecosystem, leading to extinctions in plant and animal species and ultimately
the extinction of the human race. We as humans cannot survive without a
sufficient supply of water, and if we continue to pollute our water resources
and deplete our water supply, then we are going to live a very unbearable short
life on our Earth.
Plants and
animals need water to survive, we need plants and animals as a food source (the animal part doesn't apply to vegetarians), and
this shows us how every little aspect of our Earth is connected and needs to be
present for balanced survival. When people think about the intricate connections
of our beautiful divine Earth, they will understand the necessity of sustaining
our resources and understand why spreading this awareness is very important
before it’s too late.
How can one go “green”?
There are
so many simple lifestyle choices that we can all make to contribute to a
healthier environment:
1) Switch off the lights in rooms that you are not in at
night and during the day,
2) Unplug all appliances in your home
that aren’t being used (chargers, laptops, microwave etc.),
3) Start your very own vegetable
garden, it’s very simple and easy, not to mention fun and a great way to get
the family together. Your own vegetable garden is a great way to tackle food
security by sustaining your own food sources for your household,
4) Choose to consider making a long
term investment in solar panels for your homes. A source of clean renewable
energy that enables you to reduce the pressure on the power grid and it will
decrease your electricity bills,
5) Sign up with your local community green initiative and get involved, even if its once a month. There are so
many environmental NGOs that need more helping hands. I became an active
volunteer at Greenpeace Africa and the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve before I
embarked on my Miss Earth journey, and I still continue to work with the two
organisations. Getting actively involved also means that you are able to meet
new like-minded people, you get to expand your network and it is through
getting actively involved that I have created further opportunities in my
studies and career.
6) It is as simple as picking up litter
when you see it and telling friends or family about the consequences of them
littering, draw their attention to it so you are able to get them to be
consciously aware of what they are doing.
7) No matter what field you are in or
career you plan to be in one day, ultimately we are sharing the Earth, “going green” is not only a job for the
environmentalists, it’s a lifestyle choice for every single one of us from all
walks of life. In your work place, school and homes bring up the topic of being
environmentally friendly, challenge one another and invoke meaning
conversations about the importance of working together on environmental issues
What are your goals as Miss Earth Ambassador for 2015?
I
definitely want to expand my platform as a motivational speaker for school
children, I truly believe in educating young minds and molding them into
sustainable and environmentally aware individuals.
I want to
spread the word as a green ambassador far and wide.
I also want to be innovative in other areas of my life and implement green awareness as a television presenter, an educational office at
Delta and as a volunteer with more NGO’s. This year we open up the programme to
new hopeful candidates and my goal is to also become a mentor and role model to
the new hopefuls.
I want to inspire them to live their lives as green warriors with pure passion and enthusiasm. I want to be able to
have a significant influence in the political and corporate sphere, where I am
able to bring about new innovative and sustainable methods of day to day
workings in companies. I plan to be very involved in the Generation Earth group
at Wits University this year, as a postgraduate student with an environmental
sciences degree, I will now be specializing and be more knowledgeable with my contributions to the Wits Generation Earth society.
How important is education to you?
Education
is the key to long term success!! I cannot stress
enough how important it is to invest in education and
to further invest in higher education! I believe that once you invest in
education you set yourself up for life, you create opportunities for yourself
that otherwise would certainly be tough to attain.The further you climb in your education, the
more employable you become, the more knowledgeable you are and ultimately you
become an asset in society! Someone can knock on your door today and take away your house, your
money and your material possessions, but they cannot take your education
away from you, they cannot remove the world of knowledge that you put in your
mind.
I believe that every young child should be
afforded the opportunity and gift of education in order to make a successful
life for themselves, to seek a way out of a dark situation and to open up their
minds to all the possibilities that are available in the world we live in. I am
eternally grateful to my Mother for affording me the opportunity to be in the
best schools all my life, and to be able to celebrate the fact that I have
graduated with a degree and am able to progress further and do my honors degree this year. Education has shaped
who I am as a person, as a young woman, as a growing mind and an environmental
advocate in society.
How has the Miss Earth journey treated you so far?
The Miss
Earth journey has been the most amazing, fulfilling and meaningful experience
of my entire life. It has opened up a
world of opportunities for me in my professional career and interests. More
importantly I developed some life-long friendships with young women that are
genuine, kind, supportive and inspirational. These girls became my Earth Sisters, my friends and my rock throughout the programme.
The Miss Earth
managers, coordinators, directors and ambassadors become your family through
all the great times and even days where you just need a shoulder to cry on. I
cherish every single moment spent together because I truly found a new family
within the Miss Earth organization. We
continuously have a wonderful time together and the programme has groomed me,
turned me into a young powerful woman, ready to conquer the world. The Miss
Earth journey has prepared me for the real world socially, intellectually and
spiritually. We have been extremely
privileged and blessed to continue to work with schools, to be invited to
important official events and to be on a platform where we can create green
awareness around the country
What is your next journey after Miss Earth?
There are a
lot of new and exciting projects in the pipeline during and after my reign as a
Miss Earth South Africa Ambassador. I have recently graduated with a degree in
Environmental Sciences at The University of South Africa, and I have now been officially
accepted to do a full-time Bachelor of Sciences Honors degree at Wits
University for the year 2015. I am extremely excited and grateful, as it isn’t easy to get into one of the top globally recognized universities. I also
recently auditioned to become a presenter for a brand new and exciting online
channel called TMTV SA www.tmtvsa.co.za, which is founded and produced by
Hollywood producer Christian L Amougou and executive producer and artist
manager Kimberleigh Stark.
I have been announced as one of their official
entertainment news presenters for the show. It is one absolutely fantastic and
exciting venture, as I am finally living out a childhood aspiration and dream.
It’s certainly going to be a game-changer and massive innovation and
competition in the online sphere because we have one talented team of highly
skilled presenters and producers running this project. I have also been back in
the dancing world; I did ballet for 13 years of my life and recently returned
to my number one love. I am a level 6 ballet dancer with the Royal Academy of Dance and will be doing my graded exam this year. Another addition to my future
and current responsibilities; I have been training at Delta Environmental
Centre and will soon become a part-time Environmental Educational Officer at
Delta; where I will be teaching school learners a set curriculum about
environmental matters and all spheres of our environment. Delta is a centre
focused on enriched learning and dynamic way of teaching curricular to students
and training corporate companies www.deltaenviro.org.za .
“Once a Miss Earth, always a Miss Earth!” So environmentally and professionally I plan
to continue my involvement with the Miss Earth organization. I plan on
establishing my brand as a professional, an entertainer and an environmental
advocate.
How can one get involved with Miss Earth projects?
We are more
than happy to welcome more green warriors along with our projects throughout
the year. You can contact our office on greenyourmind@missearthsa.co.za
You can check us out on social media;
Facebook page: Miss Earth South Africa
Facebook page: Miss Earth South Africa
Twitter:
@missearthsa @Michillay_Only1 @ChangeAgentSA @EllaBellaC
And you can
catch us on instagram.@MissEarthSouthAfrica
The best way is to inbox us or email one of us, and
follow up on what our upcoming projects are and where we will gladly have more people
get involved!
How does one go about to enter Miss Earth?
Entries
will be opening very soon. We have started advertising on social media already
for our new applicants. I certainly encourage every young lady between the ages
of 18-27 to look into becoming the next Miss Earth South Africa 2016. Entry forms will be found online www.missearthsa.co.za
"I wish all the new
applicants the best of luck this year and I will be there as a fellow ambassador
to support them, advise them and inspire them to become Miss Earth green
game-changers!" Michillay Brown
To know more about our Miss Earth Ambassador Michillay Brown, you can follow her on
Facebook - Michillay Brown
Instagram - Michillay and
Twitter - @Michillay_Only1
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