Miss Universe Belize: Halima Hoy Returns Home

It’s been a month since Belize’s very own Halima Hoy left to compete in the Miss Universe 2024 Pageant. After shining on one of the world’s biggest stages, Hoy has returned home. Today, News Five’s Britney Gordon caught up with her at the airport to find out how she’s feeling now that the pageant is over.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Today, the Philip Goldson International Airport buzzed with excitement as the rhythmic beats of the Wabagari Dance Group welcomed Miss Universe Belize 2024 back home. After a whirlwind month in Mexico, Halima Hoy is thrilled to be back. She shared her feelings about the days leading up to the big night.

 

Halima Hoy, Miss Universe Belize 2024

“It was like emotions building up. We had a lot of emotions and I felt sad at some point, not sad, but just more like doubting myself a little bit. And then at some point, I felt excited, just normal emotions that you go through when you’re about to experience a huge life event. But when I got on the stage, I can tell you that all of that went away. The pride of my country took over and I felt pretty comfortable on that stage. So I’m proud of that.”

 

Meeting new people was the highlight of Hoy’s Miss Universe experience. While most Belizeans praised her performance, there were some criticisms after the pageant. On Thursday, the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) released an open letter, expressing concerns that Hoy’s presentation of the Deer Dance didn’t honor the ritual’s sanctity. Hoy shared her initial thoughts on the letter.

 

Halima Hoy

“We released sketches of the costumes that were submitted to us since late April, early May, I believe, and they all had a wonderful description of what it represents, and the sketches have been circulating since then, and we also released photos of the costume a couple, a couple weeks prior to me leaving, maybe a couple days, sorry, prior to me leaving, so I am proud to have represented something that beautiful something that is rooted in the Belizean culture and I just feel like moving forward, we do need to maybe you know, look consult or something like that, but I I am very proud of the performance I have I got a lot of positive feedback from the costume, a lot of the young women were asking me what it meant and my eyes just lit up when I was sharing the store with them and I believe that a lot of people will know that part of our tradition in Belize.”

Much like the Miss Universe team, many Belizeans wondered why SATIIM waited so long to condemn the presentation. Executive Director, Maya Ch’oc explains that the timing of the statement is not as crucial as its message.

 

Maya Ch’oc, Executive Director, SATIIM

“It’s to bring some attention and some education. I think it was to create a learning opportunity for everyone and it’s certainly not to blame anybody or to cause an upset, but it’s really to create an opportunity to learn so that we can reconnect to share with the Belizean public and with everyone that there is something about this dare dance that is sacred to us as Maya people, and it’s important for us to respect these practices, these traditions, and these values and it’s important to why we want to showcase police to ensure that it’s done in a respectful manner and that we at least seek, I wouldn’t say permission, but to have a conversation with other people, this is an idea that I have. What are your thoughts on this?”

 

Despite the criticism, Hoy is thankful for the chance to showcase Belize’s rich culture and advocate for climate action. She sees this as a learning experience for the entire team.

 

Halima Hoy

“That is a, you know, a group effort from the entire organization, but we had no mal intentions when we did it. That we had all good intentions to represent our country and represent something that is deeply rooted in our history that we all share as Belizeans.”

 

SATIIM acknowledges that Hoy and her team meant no harm with the presentation but maintains that better protocols should be taken when choosing to showcase sacred parts of culture. Ch’oc also encourages all members of the Mayan community to reconnect with their culture.

 

Maya Ch’oc

“I see this as an opportunity for us, and I call on all of us Maya people, to reconnect with our culture, our tradition. You know, I perhaps, maybe if this had been an issue that happened ten years ago, my perspective would have shifted. You know, it would have been different but I think it I would say to them is that the question is, why is this dance so valuable to us? You know, how do we respect it? You know, there has been a lot of traditions that have been lost throughout the years because of external forces, because we’ve had this disconnect between ourselves on our culture.”

 

Halima plans to keep championing her platform and making Belize proud throughout the rest of her reign. She also has some words of wisdom for the next Miss Universe.

 

Halima Hoy

“It’s not only about the glitz and the glams that you see on social media, There’s a lot of hard work that goes behind the scene. You have to be resilient, you have to be strong and confident in the woman that you are. It gets tough at times, you’re gonna doubt yourself at times, but it’s all about the comeback. How having a strong source of like, where your hope comes from. Like for me, I’m a firm believer in Jesus Christ and I feel like praying and staying grounded was really important, but the next Miss Universe Belize just has to be a woman who is sure of herself, who has great character and who’s not afraid to shine that light even in a room with a hundred and twenty-five women.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.