Thelma Muvirimi, an Economics Student based in Durban, South Africa has won a spot to become Miss October in the ongoing Face of Zimbabwe competition.  

The stunning beauty becomes one of the 12 finalists who will battle it out to be crowned Face of Zimbabwe at the end of the year.

Face of Zimbabwe competition which recently announced a sponsorship deal with London firm World-Remit Money Transfers is a highly popular online pageant in which Zimbabweans all over the world are eligible to enter. The competition, run by Face of Zimbabwe Trust seeks to market Zimbabwe abroad whilst raising funds for charity.

The pageant is based on public voting which is moderated by some highly experienced judges who selects a winner every month. The competition has seen finalists from Zimbabweans based all over the world who are set to become tourism ambassadors where they are based.

Thelma Muvirimi, with no previous modelling experienced was ecstatic after her win from a selection of other beauties. She said in an interview to Zim Life & Style Magazine that she was delighted to have become a finalist which would give her a platform to touch people’s lives through charity.

She added “ I am ready to showcase our beautiful country to the rest of the world and show that despite our challenges, we are still a proud nation”. One of the judges of the FOZ competition, US Based ‘one ariega’ singer, Cee Jay Besa  commenting on Thelma’s wins, said “Besides being the epitome of Zimbabwen beauty, her You-Tube campaign video in which she expressed her passion for Zimbabwe was a convincing, sincere and well delivered display which showed what face of Zimbabwe is all about”.

Another judge, SA based model, Melgin Tafirenyika said, “Despite not having any modelling experience, Thelma has the fresh face that you expect to see in any international magazine or billboard, Face of Zimbabwe is about finding that next Naomi Campell and she comes close”.

Now reaching its finale in December, the lives of the 12 finalists are about to be transformed into stardom as they are expected to feature in a Face of Zimbabwe 2012 Calendar which is being designed in London and set to be distributed worldwide and into the many homes in Zimbabwe.

In another exciting development, the organisers of the competition has announced a partnership with technology company Enerco to provide sms voting for the competition.

A spokesman for the FOZ Trust said,  "we have partnered with a young and forward thinking Value Added Services (VAS) company, Enerco, based in Zimbabwe, to launch and manage our mobile/cellphone/SMS voting and content download services.  Initially, this will be launched in the UK, USA and South Africa, with the hope of bringing the service to Zimbabwe in the near future. More details of the service to follow shortly."

The arrangement will see the finalists benefit financially from the downloads of their calendar pages .