Do you remember Maritza Medgine Pierre, this young woman with a shaved head who won the eighth edition of the Miss Videomax competition in 2005? Loop went looking for her as part of our #KoteWYe section, and imagine, she no longer has a shaved head. We’ll let you discover her new hairstyle.
Now aged almost thirty-seven, Maritza is the mother of a “superb daughter” aged 12, the fruit of her marriage. She has been divorced for over ten years now and lives in the American capital with her darling daughter.
Entrepreneur, writer, psychologist, mother, to name just a few, Maritza has, since her coronation in the beauty contest of excellence of the time, studied international relations, psychology, and was a presenter on Télémax alongside the late journalist Carl Dieudonné.
Today, she agreed to open up in our #KoteWYe section for the happiness of those who were inspired by the multiple talents of the young lady who never stopped associating her successes with God. “Blessed be the Lord my rock who trains my hands in battle, my fingers in battle,” she said after the jury’s verdict in 2005.
Loop: The Miss VideoMax experience was undoubtedly an important step in your life. Tell us, after your victory in this prestigious competition in 2005, what objectives did you set for yourself?
MMP:Lots of things ! But above all, I wanted to create my own happiness, which I managed to do by the grace of God. The goals I had over time have remained the same in fact: to be happy and live with compassion. I tweak them from time to time, but nothing that is fundamentally different.
Loop: We imagine that after this coronation, many doors opened for you. Do you want to share some of them with us?
MMP:This coronation brought me so many great adventures! I discovered myself in a much more daring, brave, courageous and capable light. As for the open days, I was able to publish my 4 books, be the Ambassador of organizations working in philanthropy and education, meet people who are still in my life, and bridge the gap between thirsty youth and a group of adults who have not always been able to communicate our taboos.
I experienced this coronation with a deep feeling that I had to honor the vote of all those who, that evening, saw in me the Queen to be crowned. I approached this chapter of my life with great seriousness and a respect that has never faded. For the then 18-year-old me, it was a vote of confidence that I had to manage well. My coronation opened me to life, and since that day, I have continued to live it, without ever forgetting all those who still count on me.
Loop:One of the experiences you were able to have immediately after participating in this competition was to do television. Was it simply because the opportunity presented itself or was it an area for which you had always had ambition?
MMP:Everything creative and even imaginary fascinates me. I loved making my debut on screen alongside Carl Dieudonné, or giving the 7 o’clock news on National Television and thus getting into people’s homes. I love establishing lasting relationships with people, and even on networks, through my pages, I still do it. Communication is a tool that is often misused, and therefore, rectifying the situation, whether on the small screen or with my digital pen, is what I try to do with each of my publications.
Loop: You have been living in the United States for several years. What are the differences for an ambitious young woman born in Haiti?
MMP:Ah! There is a world of difference between the Haitian way of life and the one that is now my daily life. Firstly, leaving one’s native land is a challenge that is very hard to overcome. Adapting now to another culture, with all the sacrifices that entails, is another struggle. Although I have lived in a foreign land for more than ten years, I only consider my homeland as my home. With this mentality, I continued my path, I completed a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and in a few months, I will have completed my doctorate in psychology. What you have to understand when you leave your country is that if you leave empty, you will remain empty. Setting a goal and keeping a course of action helps a lot.
Loop: How do you keep in touch with Haiti since you live elsewhere?
MMP:I am an information junkie, so I keep in very close contact with Haiti. And then, I worked with Haitians for a long time, which also allowed me to stay close to my roots. Very recently, my mother was still living in the country and as a result, I am very well informed, especially in matters of politics, because having studied International Relations from 2005 to 2009 at CÉDI, I am passionate about honest and truthful information.
Loop: Let’s go back to the beauty pageant. It has already occurred to you to be at the origin of a Miss competition, after the Miss VideoMax experience, with the intention of doing what you would like beauty and excellence competitions to be. in Haiti ?
MMP:I think being that support for young people who respect themselves and still believe in their worth is more what has always inspired me. This support could take any form. But, beyond a competition, I hope that using my voice to pave the way for young people does valuable work on the networks. I receive thousands of messages on my pages from young and old telling me how much good a publication has done them. Or how they gave up suicide after reading one of my stories. I think we need more voices who are willing to pay the price of being less popular and less known (or less “present“ or to “sensation“ or “famous“) to set the tone for the new generation that is coming so that they know that the glory of a moment is nothing compared to the lasting impact of one life on another.
Loop:You have always presented yourself as a young Christian woman until then. In the current and modern context that we live in, how does Maritza Pierre invite people to faith in God?
MMP:You know, I always refused to wear a mask. When I was little, I told things as they were. And my greatest achievement in life is that I have allowed neither the years nor my epics nor the encounters that I will not talk about nor the circumstances nor my religion (the religious group to which I belong, not my faith ) to change. I remained in control of my thoughts. And it is exactly with this in mind that I have created a space in which I do not deceive people. I speak about my faith without imposing myself, I defend my convictions without attacking or offending others, I depict my reality without embellishing anything because in a world where ugliness is now beauty, we owe each other the truth.
Loop: Author, you have written a few works, like “Tchaka”, and since then, nothing more. Will we be entitled to other works in the near future?
MMP: My pen continues to write. Only, for the last eight years, to integrate, I went back to school. I did a second degree, a master’s degree and then a doctorate which ends after four years. So, I am the author of many dissertations! But I will admit that after Tchaka, I published “Monologues de la Divorcée et Elle” (a title that I wanted to be a little eccentric and a little removed from the grammatical turn of phrase), published by Livres en Folie. And before that, “Struggle-In” released on Amazon, written in English.
Loop:If there was one word for young women, Christian or not, what would it be?
MMP:Vanse! Life is not this mirage that the networks sell us. It is beautiful, ugly, joyful, painful, but it is worth living! It is better to keep your figure than to pay the price of the facility later.
