‘BEAUTY with a Purpose” projects form the very heart of the Miss World pageant.
Yet, journalists often attracted to almost exclusively on Miss World, marginalising their charity projects that demand immense effort, sacrifice, and personal commitment from contestants.
This is not just unfair. It is a serious misdirection of media attention.
Consider this: a reigning Miss World uses her fame and beauty to reach out to the far corners of the earth, helping those in need. Yet what they actually accomplish is often glossed over – reduced to a passing mention, if at all.
In stark contrast, as Pope Leo observed just last week, “the world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” unleashing wars, chaos, assasinations and widespread suffering.
Their actions dominate headlines, flooding the media with breaking news that spreads fear and anxiety.
But what about stories of compassion?
Who remembers them?
A Visit Few Remember
How many remember that Miss World 2021, Karolina Bielawska, travelled all the way from Poland to Kota Kinabalu?
She was here on August 26, 2022, to grace the Miss World Charity Gala Dinner – Beauty with a Purpose at the Magellan Sutera Harbour Resort.
The event raised RM100,000 for the Sabah Women and Children’s Hospital – a facility dedicated to treating young cancer patients, including those born with congenital cancer caused by genetic mutations. The hospital provides specialised paediatric oncology care, including chemotherapy and treatment by trained specialists also benefited was the Sabah Thalassemia Association.
Yet how many stopped to think about these children who face early death?
Who highlighted their struggles?
Who took action?
“Beauty with a Purpose” did.
It brought Karolina here – using the power of beauty and fame not for vanity, but as a voice for humanitarian service, in sharp contrast to those who turn the world into killing fields.
A ‘Goddess’ with a Different Message
Karolina Bielawska’s visit marked the first time a reigning Miss World came to Sabah.
Her presence drew admiration. Frequently described in glowing terms – “a goddess,” “stunning,” “an absolute vision of elegance” – she has often been likened to actress Margot Robbie,” extremely beautiful.”
But Karolina herself does not cling to such praise.
Beauty Is Fleeting
In an interview with Emirati writer Laraib Anwer in Dubai, she was asked: What does beauty mean to you?
Her answer was striking:
“I don’t see beauty only as what you see with your eyes, but what you feel with your heart – and that is far more important.
“There are so many beautiful people in the world, but how you treat others is what truly matters. That shows who you really are.
“Beauty is fleeting. Today we look like this; in 10 years, we will look different. Even tomorrow, something could change.
“But who I am as a person, and how I treat others — that will stay with me forever. No one can take that away.”
Her words echo the Psalmist’s reflection:
“As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field. The wind blows over it, and it is gone.”
A Project That Didn’t Win – But Still Matters
Poland has a population of about 37 million. Among them, some 32,000 people are homeless – a crisis described as both acute and persistent. Around 1,000 are in Karolina’s hometown of Łódź.
Her “Beauty with a Purpose” project, “Zupa Na Pietrynie” (“Soup on Piotrkowska Street”), focused on supporting the homeless.
Every Sunday, her initiative provided hot meals, food packages, and clothing to hundreds. It extended further – offering medical assistance, building the city’s first social bathroom, and supporting children with disabilities.
Like Miss World 2025, Opal Suchata Chuangsri, she also supported women battling breast cancer.
This was more than a symbolic effort – it was sustained, hands-on service.
“But what is most important,” she said, “is that we give them a sense of security. We build trust through understanding and kindness.”
“Beauty with a Purpose means living with gratitude, and serving with understanding and kindness. That is why I am honoured to be part of Miss World.”
1st runner-up Shree Saini’s BWAP heart health project beat Karolina’s
However, Karolina did not win the Beauty with a Purpose 2021 award.
Instead, the award went to Shree Saini of the USA whose project on heart health and heart-shaped resilience, was judged best.
So while Karolina beat Shree Saini to the main Miss World title, Shree grabbed the Beauty with a Purpose award besides 1st runner-up, because she argued relentlessly in her project that “early check-ups, heart health and healthy lifestyle can prevent 80pc of deaths from heart disease which kills 18 million per year – easily the number one killer globally, taking more lives than all cancers combined.
“I made it my life’s mission to advocate for early check-ups. By raising awareness, we can save 14 million people each year,” she argued.
Shree Saini’s compelling story
But what drove Shree Saini, a Punjabi American with such burning heart health mission?
None other than the shock that when she was barely 12, doctors found her heart would not beat for 5 seconds because of a complete heart block, during a routine check-up with her mother.
That explained why she had a very low resting heart rate, it explained why she always finished last in sports class.
The consequence?
She was rushed to the operating room for an emergency heart surgery where doctors inserted a permanent pacemaker, the only way her heart can beat normally with the device’s help sending electrical impulses to the heart – the youngest to survive on a pacemaker.
To cut the story short, she faced bullying back at school, had a car accident that burnt her face, and went through no less than 8 heart surgeries subsequently but recovered from all trials, watched Miss World pageants on TV that somehow sparked an idea to compete one day.
Using share of fame & beauty advocate heart health
At last, she did, according to a Nov 27, 2024 report in ETimes
"Becoming a Miss World of the Americas and then first- runner-up at Miss World 2021 brought its share of fame alright, but I wanted to use that fame to reach out to the others, to create a positive impact and influence. I began volunteering with the American Heart Association, one of the world’s largest non- profits, apart from organising weekly heart awareness projects for other non-profits,” she said.
A thoroughly constrictive force that drives the inner heart of Miss World, shinning a torch of hope, shaming the destructive force of a handful of hegemonic tyrants on the prowl around the world.
