Miss Earth SA finalist: be friends with snakes, spiders and frogs

Le Roux (24), from Boksburg South, is a regional semi-finalist in the contest.

She is originally from Reiger Park, but relocated to Windmill Park at the age of four; these are also the two areas le Roux has targeted for her projects.

“My dream is to bring hope and light to those communities,” she said.

“I want young women to know that they are queens and I want them to know that the world is full of opportunities; they should know they can become part of a next generation type of women.”

Le Roux attended Laerskool Van Dyk in her primary years and went on to complete her education at Boksburg High School.

She is currently a brand ambassador for an online youth portal which assists organisations with their work by creating voluntary opportunities.

She is employed as an administrative coordinator and is also enrolled as a correspondence student, studying towards a political science degree at Unisa.

Le Roux has recently been appointed as a voluntary information manager at NERDAfrica – a social movement that seeks to create platforms of collaboration for young people across the African continent.

Her favourite hobby is reading.

“Reading has caused me to travel the world and journey through different minds,” she said.

This 24-year-old is not afraid to push boundaries; she is also quite an adventurous type who enjoys the outdoors, arts and crafts and travelling.

Why did she enter Miss Earth SA 2015?

“Nature is the heartbeat of our existence and if we do not care for it, it will not be able to take care of us,” she explained.

”The Miss Earth SA programme is the ideal platform to inspire and create environmental awareness.

“I believe that my passion, drive and vision, together with the Miss Earth programme objectives, can inspire and create multitudes of change.”

Being part of the programme, le Roux has learned many interesting things about our environment.

“Snakes, spiders and frogs are not the enemy – they’re our friends,” she said.

She has also become conscious of the environment and how her lifestyle contributes to its well being.

So far, she has completed a waste management project at Little Red Riding Hood Day Care Centre (this is the day care centre she attended as a child); Project Footprint (she collected over 500 pairs of shoes, as well as clothes and bags for the Windmill Park community); set up a soup kitchen in Windmill Park in celebration of World Hunger Day; offered voluntary assistance at the Boksburg SPCA; taken part in a clean-up in Reiger Park; undertaken tree planting and joined Team Up to Clean Up in Ivory Park.

The fact that le Roux has the opportunity to meet people from different facets of life, adds its own special uniqueness to her Miss Earth SA journey.

“Our journey is different, but the destination is the same,” she said.

”Young women are contacting me, asking: ‘Michaela, how do I become part of this change?’.

“This is beautiful – it shows that I am on the journey to inspire and help make the world a better place.”

Without any doubt, she said, her highlight was meeting Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom.

The Miss Earth Gala Event will be held at Monte Casino, in September.

Follow Le Roux’s journey on the following platforms:

Facebook: Michaela Le Roux

Twitter: @Me_chaela

Instagram: @Me_chae_la

She can also be contacted on Michaela.leroux@live.com. – @IschkeBoksburg