“The queen is here, the queen is here!”
Those were the chants of an ecstatic crowd that gathered outside the Piarco International Airport from as early as 4 pm yesterday to welcome Miss World Trinidad and Tobago Aché Abrahams back home.
Abrahams returned home to the fanfare after placing in the top four two at the 71st Miss World Pageant at the Jio World Convention Center in Mumbai, India, on March 9.
Speaking to the media in the VIP lounge of the airport, she said she was elated to “hear the Trini accent” after flying for 21 hours.
Asked how she felt on her return, Abrahams said, “It’s an honour to represent sweet T&T on this platform. In making the top four, I wanted to make home proud and I’m so happy I’ve had so much support. The crown would have been great but to win the hearts of my people is all that I needed and I feel so blessed to have done that.”
While she appreciated the support of Trinidad and Tobago, Abrahams said she looked forward to taking up her duty as the Caribbean’s queen.
“It is such an honour. Already, my heart was full representing T&T but now representing this beautiful region of the Caribbean, I know it’s a great responsibility and I’m ready to be the voice for all of us not just T&T, now it’s not just T&T but the whole region.
“We have a lot of fun things planned and I’m excited to do fun things here and regionally so I can ensure that we make a difference.”
For her beauty with a purpose project, Abahams embarked on an initiative called ‘Invisible Scars’, where she prioritised mental health advocacy, sharing her own journey with depression. She advised individuals, both young and old, to believe in themselves and follow their dreams.
“For anyone listening, if you ever second-guessed yourself and second-guessed your value of what you have to give this world, just look at me, I made top four. I did so many things that the younger version of myself in a million years thought I could not have done, and I did it. I want you to know you can do even more than I did.”
Her mom Camille said she was happy that her daughter was back home in time to celebrate her (Camille’s) birthday on Sunday.
“This is the best birthday ever!” she shared as she embraced her daughter with a kiss.
She said although they were miles away for the competition, they felt people’s love through social media.
“When we were in India, we were not privy to what was going on on the ground in Trinidad and when we left and went into our room and saw what was going on in MovieTowne and what was going on social media, we were blown away,” the elated mother said.
Though she stopped short of announcing any plans to award Abrahams for her success at the international competition, Social Development Minister Donna Cox, on hand representing the Government, assured that her ministry will support her future projects.
“Regardless of where you placed, you won the hearts of all of T&T. With regards to the Beauty with a Purpose Project, that is one of the projects within the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, some of those are topics that they cover, so therefore, since she has such a good project we intend to assist her as much as possible,” Cox said.
Cox added that Abrahams managed to “bridge the political divide” with her successful participation at the pageant.
After wowing the world with her beauty and poise, Abraham arrived on home soil to the sounds of tassa drums, African drums, steelpan, and performances from traditional Indian and African dancers once outside the VIP area.
Dozens of people showed up, some wearing national colours while the majority waved national flags to greet her. The crowd burst into song as they waited, with Mical Teja’s DNA becoming the anthem of the moment.
The beauty queen, who was also crowned Miss World Caribbean, landed around 6.30 pm and was greeted by her mom, Camille Selvon Abrahams, dad Carl Abrahams and grand mother Shirley Selvon.
Abrahams returned home after one month of pageantry activities to rest and said she intends to have an early morning doubles run with her family today.