Amber Hart to compete at Miss Canada Globe pageant

Revelstoke’s Amber Hart has been selected to represent the community at a Miss Canada Globe Pageant in Toronto in August.

While there, she’ll spend 10 days total going though pageant coaching and training with previous title holders and the organizers.

Ahead of the competition, she’ll be engaging in community charity works and events as part of the pageant’s requirements.

We asked Amber about the competition and her plans in a Q&A interview:

Why are you running for Miss Canada Globe 2018?

I am competing for the title of Miss Canada Globe 2018 for the opportunity to travel around B.C. and Canada, and hopefully earn a scholarship that accompanies the title, which will be used towards finishing my degree in Early Childhood Education. There is also a chance to travel to Albania to compete for the title of Miss Globe if I place. There are also opportunities for the runners up to compete at 25 other pageants across the globe.

What do you hope to gain from the experience?

I hope to gain more confidence in myself, my public speaking skills, and to promote body positivity and self-esteem; the MCGP organization strives to promote beauty in all aspects, and that competing in a pageant at this level should be an opportunity for women of any height, size, or creed. I also will be using my time as a finalist to bring attention to Auto Immune Diseases. I have Celiac Disease, an auto immune disease affecting the digestive tract. I will be hosting fundraisers for the Canadian Celiac Association and the Auto Immune Disease Foundation of Canada.

What do you plan to do to represent Revelstoke?

I plan to represent Revelstoke by gaining sponsorships from local businesses and showcasing them while I am in Toronto, and by being at as many local events as I can in the next few months, as well as the year after the pageant. Every delegate comes home with a title — either Regional (such as Miss British Columbia Globe) or National (Miss Canada), which will be an amazing opportunity to bring some attention to our secret mountain hideaway while I travel to various events and hopefully to Albania for Miss Globe.

What special talents will you be showcasing at the contest?

I haven’t decided on my talent quite yet, but when I do it will be amazing! I’m leaning towards a monologue about living with an invisible illness. I have Celiac Disease, an auto immune disease where eating or drinking anything with gluten in it causes my immune system to attack the lining of my small intestines, resulting in issues with nutrient absorption. Gluten is a protein found in Rye, Wheat, Barley, and Triticale, so being gluten-free is more than just not eating bread and pasta. It is hiding in foods like soy sauce, liquorice, chocolate bars with a filling (like Mars bars and Lindor truffles, which use barley malt for flavour), and its even hiding in cosmetics as a binding agent. Celiac Disease is estimated to affect 1 in every 133 Canadians; however, that number may be higher because symptoms mimic and overlap with other conditions, and its often misdiagnosed as IBS.

When I have a reaction from gluten exposure I experience severe physical pain, including migraines, muscle cramps, numbness in my feet, and abdominal pain that I can best describe as being slammed with Thor’s Hammer non stop for days; the longest I have experienced symptoms after gluten exposure was four days, but gluten stays in your body for up to six months, wreaking havoc on the body, and even the nervous system. There is no cure for this, only management with adherence to a very strict and expensive lifelong diet. I hope to bring awareness to the various auto immune diseases and especially Celiac, so grocery stores stop charging people $25 for a bag of flour that costs $8 for the same size bag of regular white four.