By Janelle de Souza
Copyright newsday
WHETHER she wins the Miss World TT title or not, Suana Sookdeo intends to carry on her advocacy and community service.
At the heart of her plan is the Safe Haven Project: Compassion in Action, her vision of a dedicated space for survivors of domestic violence, child abuse and other vulnerable persons to find refuge and support.
“I’ve been doing this beforehand and now I’m going to do this throughout my Beauty With a Purpose project. And I am going to definitely continue after. Whether or not I hold a title this is something that I’m definitely passionate about, and it’s definitely worthwhile. I’m thoroughly invested in it and I’ve always been. That’s just part of being an advocate,” Sookdeo said during an interview at Newsday, Pembroke Street, Port of Spain, on September 16.
At 23, Sookdeo has already had academic achievement and engaged in community leadership. In 2023 she graduated from UWI with a bachelor’s degree with honours, and was on the Dean’s List.
During her time at UWI she served in the Law Society, as a member of the Guild of Students, the Charity and Outreach Committee and participated in the Caribbean Youth Fellowship programme, where she helped develop a public policy for inclusive education for those with learning disabilities in TT.
Her legal training also exposed her to rich opportunities. She did several legal internships in different areas of law and became interested in international mooting. She took an elective and was selected to represent TT in the Hague International Debate in 2023, winning a Fair Play Award. She is currently pursuing a legal education certification at the Hugh Wooding Law School and was the representative for her year on the school’s Human Rights Committee.
Sookdeo is also a contestant in the local leg of the Miss World competition representing Chaguanas. She sees Miss World TT not simply as a competition, but as a platform – a stage from which she can amplify the voices she always wanted to uplift.
For the Miss World Beauty with a Purpose project she is laying the foundation for something far more lasting than any crown – Safe Haven.
There she aims to support women and children affected by domestic violence, child abuse and poverty. Through that project she aims to bring awareness to the challenges those groups face, to encourage youths to network and volunteer to provide a support system for those in need, and to help youths develop compassion.
Roots of Advocacy
Sookdeo’s passion for helping others began at age seven when her mother started taking her to visit homes for the elderly, children’s homes and communities caring for the less fortunate. That was when she was exposed to issues of domestic violence and child abuse, and her desire to help fuelled her passion and her decision to do law.
At age 11, she learned about the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development’s National Children’s Forum for which she attended workshops that made her aware of many different societal issues in the country. Already a writer of poetry, she chose to do a spoken word piece called Violence Against Women.
“I’m definitely a writer, but I was not one to be vocal about it, so this was my first time stepping into the realm of spoken word poetry. Who knew that it would have unlocked so many things for me going further in life.
“It was the start of me being more vocal about the societal issues that I found was plaguing TT, and from there it basically led to everything that followed with my ministry and other governmental recognition.”
After being exposed to spoken word at the National Children’s Forum she joined the spoken word organisation 2 Cents Movement.
She said spoken word helped develop her confidence, public speaking, self-expression and as a person.
In 2015, she was nominated for a National Youth Award in the art and culture category for her poem, Violence Against Women, and in 2016 she was presented with a certificate of recognition by the Office of the Prime Minister. She was also commended by the Chaguanas Borough Corporation for her service to the community.
Her secondary school years at Holy Faith Convent, Couva, saw her founding clubs, working with the Rotary Club of Chaguanas, spearheading charity drives, fundraising projects for NGOs and organising food collections. And these were not occasional efforts, but a result of her motto of “service above self.”
During both primary and secondary school she was bullied. At the time she was very shy so it was difficult for her to defend herself, and she had no friends who could support her. The bullying eroded her self-worth and self-esteem but she found an avenue to channel her negative energy. She invested her energy in her extra-curricular activities and spoken word which helped her process her emotions.
“What I really started reflecting on was what made me unique, and what I was able to give to others and what was my sense of self-worth. I took some time for myself, and I did a little bit of reflection, and considered what made me unique, what makes me me.
“I found pride in the things that made me distinct and different. No one was aware of everything that I was doing behind the scenes. They only saw this little quiet girl this big school uniform, just sitting there. I definitely did not stand out in a crowd at that point in time.”
Despite those trying years, Sookdeo said she did her best to take her mother’s advice: do good no matter what life throws at you, and try to be humble.
“Life has a lot of up and downs, a lot of challenges would come into your path, but it’s all about the perspective that you take on it. There’s three routes you could take – a pessimistic and optimistic or a neutral standpoint. When you find it within yourself to get that balance, you find good in everything. So with every negative experience you learn a positive lesson.
“So when I experienced bullying in school it definitely shaped me to be stronger, more resilient, and to be more ambitious and to work harder, and prove myself and prove my worth. But, in doing so, I just blossomed and I developed into this person that I didn’t think that I would ever become. Looking back at the person I was in high school to now, it’s just totally stark, totally different. And there’s a beauty in that.”
Academics, activism and pageantry
Sookdeo’s activism led to her being awarded the 2020/21 Makandal Daaga Scholarship in Law from UWI. There, several people suggested she go up for Miss World TT. She liked the idea of representing TT internationally, but she decide to wait until she finished her education.
“They know the type of individual that I am and who I have portrayed myself to be over the past years. And that was an advocate. Now I have curated this voice of mine, this voice of reason, this voice for the voiceless, and it really fuels my passion and my desire to go further with law.”
This year, she saw the screening and just decided to apply and see if she liked the process. To her, the pageant was not about getting a crown or a title. She wanted to expand her advocacy. She believed Miss World was a developmental programme which gave young women an opportunity to find their own voice and help them be the best version of themselves.
“The reason it struck a cord is because, within the Miss World franchise itself, there’s an aspect called the Beauty with a Purpose project. From all the advocacy work that I’ve done, all the community outreach and the charity drives and everything that I have been associating myself with for more than 16 years now, it definitely was a reason for me to now steer my work into going a bit more expansive locally, being able to touch more souls, meet more people and bring my advocacy on a wider platform.”
Sookdeo explained her Safe Haven Project has a three-tier system – direct community outreach to vulnerable groups, educational interventions at schools and establishing a youth volunteer network to ensure sustainability.
The community outreach aspect she has been doing for years. She has been visiting old-aged homes, children’s homes and underprivileged families, distributing hampers of food, toiletries and household necessities. She has been engaging with MPs and councillors in her area, with an eye to scaling nationally, and has met with businesses to assist with products for hampers.
On the education and empowerment side, she has begun visiting primary schools to explain their rights, what abuse is, knowing their self-worth and how to seek help. In secondary schools she would like to do sessions on domestic violence awareness, encourage students to find a social issue they were passionate about and give them guidelines on how to walk the path of advocacy.
Since she was chosen as Miss Chaguanas in August, she said many people have reached out to her on social media. Some who saw and respected her commitment throughout the years, want to join in her work. And she believes some of the students she hopes to speak to with, when they learn about the issues in their communities, will want to engage. Then she will start connecting them.
She told WMN a teenager who was interested in pageantry recently massaged her on Instagram saying how much Sookdeo inspired her. Sookdeo always believed in service before self so she was truly touched because the purpose of her project was for the youth to be inspired, find their voice and their passion.
Now she is actually involved in the pageant, Miss World has become more that just a platform. She has gained 19 sisters in the other contestants and a boost in confidence from the training by the coaches including creative director Richard Young and franchise holder and fashion designer Charu Lochan Dass.
She said a lot of work is involved for both the team and the contestants, so time-management is important. She described it as an eye-opening experience that allowed her to develop a respect for the Miss World process and the organisers.
Her advice? Always take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. Always try.
