Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - August 15, 2004
Ginelle G. Torres, ggtorres@herald.com
When Thea Duncan was a child, her mother, a nurse, began to talk to her about the ravages of AIDS. The disease had hit close to home -- it took a relative at the age of 22.
Duncan, a University of Miami student, now uses her knowledge to spread awareness about the disease throughout the Caribbean.
The 21-year-old will have a new platform to use in her fight. Last month, she was crowned the first Miss CARICOM, or Caribbean Community. Though a Palmetto Bay resident, Duncan has deep roots in the region and competed under the Grenadian flag. The contest was in Guyana.
Wednesday, dozens of friends and family gathered at the Doris Ison Health Center in the Community Health Center of South Dade, where mom Mary Taylor Duncan works, to celebrate.
"She did so well and she's so grounded," her mother said. "We knew she would get the crown."
Beyond the pageant win -- she is also the reigning Miss Florida Caribbean -- Duncan has had great success in the classroom. She speaks Spanish and Italian and was awarded the Madeleine Albright Public Policy Scholarship to study culture and public policy in Poland.
Duncan is finishing up her degree in International Studies and considering a graduate degree in International Finance.
"I like to think that I'm not just from one place, I'm a global citizen," Duncan said.
The Miss CARICOM contest was created by a former Miss Guyana USA, Monica Sanchez, who wanted to emphasize the beauty and culture of the Caribbean.
Instead of a talent portion, like many beauty contests have, contestants were judged on their platform. Duncan's was HIV/AIDS awareness.
While she was in Guyana, Duncan worked with Youth AIDS, and saw testing sites and had almost 40 teens attend her lecture on a Sunday afternoon. Later this year, she will take her crusade to Haiti.
"It is the country with the highest rate in the Western Hemisphere and I want to bring in young people for testing and talk about the issues," she said.
Youth AIDS is an organization that works in 70 countries to educate teens in order to protect them.
"The United Nations came out with recent figures and they are astounding," she said. "People aren't talking about it anymore."
"My driving force is making sure that people know what's going on and that it's out there," she said.
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