Singing beauty tween aiming for world stage

A lack of funding has prevented an Invercargill pupil from representing New Zealand at this year’s Little Miss Universe pageant but it won’t stop her from pursuing her dream.

Soraya Ahfook, 10, was supposed to be on a plane heading for the Little Miss Universe pageant in Turkey on Monday but last-minute fundraising efforts could not provide enough money for her to get there.

Despite the setback, the primary school pupil is determined to represent Aotearoa at the next Little Miss Universe 2025 event.

Her mother entered her into the Little Miss Aotearoa New Zealand pageant to boost her confidence and did not expect her daughter to walk away with awards.

"I didn’t expect Soraya to make it as a finalist; I just encouraged her to do the pageant because she was a shy girl," Sara Salesa-Ahfook said.

The once shy tween ended up taking out the titles of Invercargill Ambassador, Little Miss Charity and runner-up at the Little Miss Aotearoa New Zealand pageant held in Christchurch last month.

Soraya earned her awards after being involved in eight weeks of pageantry activities which included fundraising for Starship Hospital, helping make school lunches for "Nan’s Kai" and singing to elderly residents at a local rest-home.

"After fundraising for Starship I went and sang at an old people’s home and I was worried because I had never even sung on a stage before.

"But I think the old people were happy because whenever I started singing they would start jumping around and singing and dancing and stuff," she said.

Soraya had been singing since she was 2 years old and being involved in the pageant took her from "being shy" to now "having grown her confidence".

"I’ve seen a big difference in her," Mrs Salesa-Ahfook said.

"Eight weeks of doing this programme has given me a new child."

Despite the youngster currently doing boxing and powerlifting, "the pageant allowed her to find her voice through singing".

"It helped me a lot, I used to be really shy and was scared to talk to people.

"I sang a song called Part of your World by Halle Bailey ... it’s a song that makes me feel confident," Soraya said.

She is continuing to prepare for next year’s Little Miss Universe event by taking vocal lessons and travelling to Australia for training to improve her stage work.

She is of Samoan and Pākehā descent through her father who hails from Saleapaga, Savai’i, Samoa and her mother’s side comes from Fusi, Saoluafata, from the island of Upolu.

 - By Nina Tapu