Pageant News Bureau - Miss ZIMUSA2005

Alphabetically, Zimbabwe is way down the list of countries. Maybe for that reason, It's not always on the rest of the world's radar screen. But it's on ours, because we at PNB are into pageant news. Zimbabwe has a remarkably thriving pageant culture. It sends competitors to the major international pageants, and it has played host to pageants.

That Zimbabwean pageant culture even extends to America. On Memorial Day Weekend of 2005, in Washington, D.C. (a very American time and a very American place), Zimbabweans living under the red, white and blue came together to crown a queen. The girl they crowned as Miss ZIMUSA 2005 is Rudo Change of Harare, who's studying in the medical field in America.

The first and second princess, respectively, were Sylvia Chimhinha and Charmaine Zondo.

Ms. Change's name is Zimbabwean, and it's not pronounced like the English word "change." How do we explain the correct pronunciation without resorting to those weird phonetic marks? Let's give it a try. Take "cha" as it's pronounced in "cha-cha." Add an "ng" and make it "Chang." Then add a syllable that sounds like "gay." Accent the first syllable. CHANG gay. It's easy.

The first thing to learn about a beautiful girl is her name. And then her title. After that, choose the questions for yourself.

Rudo rhymes with judo,but that's just a start

Rudo rhymes with judo,
but that's just a start