Proudly Khoisan and from Kuils River, the reigning Miss Teen Supranational Joey Roman will be taking her heritage to an international stage where she will represent South Africa at the 2022 Miss Teen International in Ecuador, South America next month.
You might have recognised the mooi 19-year-old from social media as she was trending for proudly wearing her Khoi attire for the pageant.
But the beauty queen now needs R56 000 by Friday to compete in her next event and needs a helping hand.
Winning Miss Teen Supranational was a dream come true for Joey, who now has a chance to showcase her heritage on an international stage while also helping meisies in her community.
She was crowned Miss Teen Supranational SA 2022, just months after she competed as a finalist in the Teen Universe South Africa, where she took her Khoisan heritage to the stage.
“Going overseas will just boost what I am currently doing. One of the main things I wanna do is focus on charity work and work in communities like Delft where I grew up, by giving back to those girls and showing them a better way of life,” the teen says.
It all started for Joey when she tried to understand her heritage and where she came from, and the more she learnt about the Khoisan the more determined she became to make her mense proud.
“By doing this I show that I have an identity as a coloured girl, and I’m not mixed race like many people would say. I want to shine more light on the history because they have been silenced for so long, I want to be a voice for them.”
Dad Jason is her family’s breadwinner in the house, but only started working last month.
“The pressure is there to make sure she gets overseas, but financially I’m not able to send her. Therefore we are hosting fundraisers and trying to partner with different mediums to assist,” he explains.
“With the little resources she has, she has already touched so many lives based on her story and her background, which I am so proud of.”
Joey is the founder and director of the Joey’s Heart Foundation, which focuses on empowering, guiding and uplifting girls living in impoverished communities where teenage pregnancy, gangsterism, substance abuse and domestic violence is rife.
To assist in getting Joey to Ecuador, click https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/joey-roman-needs-our-help.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za