With the Miss World pageant centred around charity and character building, Miss Top Model Jemima Pierre wants to bring awareness of dementia to young people.
Pierre, 22, who won this year's top model title and was second runner-up in the Miss World TT pageant said she hopes to bridge the gap between young people and elders who are suffering from dementia through her charity – Project Remember Me.
"I started it was because my grandparents were diagnosed with dementia. One was then diagnosed with two types, Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. The other was caused by vascular dementia which is also tied to diabetes. So I believe that it is something pertinent to TT because it is related to cardiovascular diseases as well as diabetes, which is the number one cause of death in TT," she said.
"A lot of people don't know that dementia is not a disease in its own right. It is caused by other diseases. So that was really my reason for starting Project Remember Me and what I want to do is, I want to put preventative measures in place."
Pierre, who lives in Arima, said her goal of getting young people to understand what dementia is and the causes to help them learn to appreciate their elders and the contribution they have made to society.
"The elderly often are very forgotten and alienated in society so Project Remember Me is just for us to remember that they're still around. They're still members of society and they still need to be valued."
When she isn't training for her pageants or taking part in fashion shows, Pierre studies pursues her studies in nursing at the School of Nursing.
Through her studies, she can provide a guide on geriatric care as a way of helping those who aren't able to afford the necessary assistance the elderly.
"People need to know how to take care of their relatives properly at home and with knowledge comes understanding and something that is very scary doesn't seem so scary once you have a grasp of it."
In 2020, Pierre started a non-profit organisation – Jem's Strokes Saves Lives – which gave birth to her latest project launched in September. She said a lot of the reactions to her project were heartbreaking as she encountered people trying to care for elderly with this disease without them knowing how to cope with the effects of it.
"I was shocked by the multitude of people that had experienced it and had parents and relatives who died from it, who know what it feels like to lose a loved one from dementia. Just the fact that a lot of people are experiencing it means that my work has to touch the youths and it has to start now."
[caption id="attachment_986638" align="alignnone" width="884"] Jemima Pierre competes as Miss Arima at the Miss World TT pageant, National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain on November 8. - ANGELO MARCELLE[/caption]
She said there is a lot of work to do as so many people are experiencing what is dementia and what it entails.
On a lighter note, Pierre said she was completely shy upon entering the pageant in both 2020 and 2022 but prevail
