Miss World Somalia hoping to inspire other Black Muslim girls as first Hijab-wearing contestant

York University student, Khadija Omar, is said to be the first Hijabi contestant at the 70th Miss World Pageant. City's Faiza Amin is taking a look at some of the hurdles she faced in her journey to success and how she's giving back to the community.

By Faiza Amin and Meredith Bond

As the Miss World Pageant is set to kick off next month, a contestant with a close connection to Canada is making history as the first hijabi to compete in Miss World.

Miss World Somalia is hoping to inspire young Black and Muslim girls when she takes the stage in March.

Khadija Omar, whose parents are Somali, was born in a Kenyan refugee camp before coming to Canada in 2010. Her family arrived in Kitchener as refugee where she lived until enrolling at York University in Toronto.

Omar said she enjoyed growing up in a multicultural country like Canada, but she still felt like she didn’t quite fit in.

“When I came to Canada, as a refugee, obviously there was a culture shock. And in the beginning, I actually didn’t speak English. So I was put in ESL, and then I was able to learn English,” Omar told CityNews.  “Canada is very multicultural country. There’s so many cultures, it’s very diverse. But I still felt I didn’t fit.”

Her goal as Miss World Somalia is to provide representation for Black girls and girls who wear hijabs on such a large platform, what she didn’t see growing up. Omar says she has already heard from some young girls about her impact on them.

“There’s girls who are saying that I would love pageant but I never went into it because I’ve never felt represented. And that’s how I felt when I was young. So being able to do that for so many people. It is like it’s such an amazing feeling. Because I feel like the world is really changing.

Omar hopes girls will see her and know they can achieve the same thing. “She’s different. She feels beautiful. She feels confident. So why can’t I be different be like that too’.”

Past Miss World, Omar is hoping to fulfil one of her passions and launch an inclusive makeup brand. She says she was inspired to start a brand when reflecting on experiences in which she went to buy makeup and couldn’t find foundations or pigments that matched her skin tone.

“I love makeup. So being that young girl who loved makeup as a form of art and being represented and that was something that made me very sad,” said Omar. “I don’t wear makeup to hide my insecurities. That’s not how I see makeup. I wear makeup to make me feel confident.”

And she says she wants every girl to feel they are represented by her brand. “I want to make sure that my brand represents every girl. I want every culture represented. I want every girl to look at this brand and be like, ‘Oh, I see myself and then I feel if I can wear this. I feel beautiful’.”

Another passion she hopes to pursue is psychology. Omar said she was inspired to study psychology at university when she was in high school and went to a Muslim therapist.

Omar said many have said it’s rare to find a therapist that can relate and understand the struggle you have experienced in your life.

“So many Black people, so many Muslim people don’t have a therapist that can understand them,” said Omar.

She added therapy played a big role in her life and she wants to be able to provide that for others.

“It’s so important to be able to go to someone you could talk to and have them understand you. And I feel with mental health and everything that’s happening in this world, you need someone to talk to. You don’t have to hide how you’re feeling,” said Omar. “It’s really important to express everything, not to put everything inside because it really can destroy you as a person. And even when I was in high school, that was something I went through and if I didn’t have that person to go talk to, I don’t think I’d be here right now.”

Currently, she’s working on her “Beauty With a Purpose” campaign for the pageant which is focused on climate issues in Somalia and it brought her back to the refugee camp where she was born in Kenya, helping some of the nearly 12,000 Somali refugees displaced by severe drought.

The trip is being led by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and she hopes to continue “campaigning about refugee climate crisis, it’s impact and how it can be dealt with effectively to avoid similar recurring problems.”

Omar said another one of her goals in the refugee camp is to help provide period products and hopes to help inspire these young girls living in the camp.

“When I was a refugee, I remember there were little kids all going around talking about what to do when they go out. And I always said, ‘I want to come back to the refugee camp.’ I always knew in my heart I wanted to go back there and help in some way possible,” explained Omar.

“What I noticed is there’s some things that we take for granted that we don’t notice is such a big issue, [for example] they have problems being able to have pads. For us woman, it’s such a normal thing. But the stories of what girls have to go through just to get one or two pads, it’s so crazy,” added Omar.

Omar has already made the Top 40 for Miss World and the finals are scheduled to be held on March 16 in Puerto Rico.

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