I Am African And I Can: Souadou Dramé

2012-2013 Miss Guinee North America On the Importance of Going Back Home

Souadou Dramé isn't just bestowed with beauty, charisma, and the grace to rock the runway. She is a queen with a big heart, willing to use her education to help her country, Guinea, Conakry, develop.

Raised in Saramoussaya, a village situated in central Guinea, Dramé not only has goals for the children of her village, she knows of a tool that if Guineans in the diaspora use, intentionally, Guinea forever will be transformed. It is clutched in the hands of many educated Guineans. It is a degree.

"We had the opportunity to come to America...,we have interacted with different communities and we have what it takes to go back," said the crowned 2012-2013 Miss Guinee North America (MGNA).

Dramé, 21, is currently a student at the University of Montreal, studying International Business and Civil Law. When she earns her degree, there is one thing she plans on doing: to go back to Guinea and use her degree to help her people.

But before that, she wants to do an internship next year in Guinea to get hands-on experience. When it comes to doing internships, very few consider Guinea as a place to go to to get hands-on experience. Well, not Dramé. She is willing to take the first leap; she is willing to be a leader.

The pageant queen explained that if Guineans have been fortunate enough to come to America to get an advanced education, after having completed their studies, it is only right to go back home and apply what they have learnt. Adding that people in the medical field, for in instance, are needed in Guinea.

Dramé explained that Guinea needs change, and that change ought be fostered by people with a different mentality. The aspiring diplomat addressed a question which many Guineans in the diaspora need to be aware of in order to bring change to their native land: "how do you want Guinea to change if it's always the same people, the same generation?"

"Some of the best qualities in Souadou (because she has so many) is that she is very humble, respectful, driven, kind and willing to learn and be corrected when she makes mistakes. And those are truly some of the qualities that will lead anyone on top, which is exactly where she is headed as a young leader," said Dramé's mentor Hawa Barry-Diallo, founder of MGNA.

When lauding about bringing change to Guinea, Dramé pointed that many initiators "always help the city, and forget about the village." She added, "when you count how many people there are in the country, they [the people who live in the village] are part it." The need to give attention and education opportunities to underprivileged children of the village inspired Dramé to initiate her own not-for-profit organization called "Hope For Angles."

In 2010, Dramé was the first runner-up of Miss Guinea Canada. Today, she is the Executive Director for Miss Asia Pacific World-Canada, "an international beauty platform dedicated to nurturing talented beauties around the world into becoming future stars in the global entertainment industry."

Dramé was shy before joining the world of pageantry. Now, she has become a confident, outspoken young woman, who is not shy about pointing out what needs to be done for her country.

A Glimpse of Dramé's World

"To me, beauty is someone who is humble and respectful...If you're humble, you can get along with anyone...If you're respectful, you'll always think twice before doing something."-Dramé