With two weeks to go before the staging of the 2007 Miss Guyana Renaissance Pageant, a twelfth woman has been added to the list of contestants. The Scene recently spoke to Gem Sanford-Johnson, who is extremely excited about competing in this pageant which has been designed for mature and professional women.
Gem, an Attorney-at-law, was admitted to practice law at both the Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago Bars. She is the President of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, the Vice President of the Guyana Bar Association, and Vice President of the Organization of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations (OCCBA), a Director on the Legal Aid Board and a member of the Rotary Club of Demerara.
This mother of four ensures that she is always looking like a diva and she enjoys reading, dancing, modelling and travelling. Gem is not deterred by the demands of her profession and all of the organizations she is attached to and says she balances them well with her roles as wife and mother.
She is an advocate for women’s rights and since she became a member of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers in 2001, has been involved in outreach programmes where she disseminates information on the rights of women under various pieces of legislation, more particularly, their rights to property and rights under the Domestic Violence Act.
Gem told The Scene that she was a victim of domestic violence in her first marriage, something she is not ashamed to disclose, and was once at a point where she felt demoralized, had no self-esteem and was made to feel worthless by the perpetrator.
However, she managed to leave the abusive relationship, something many women are not able to do, pick up the pieces, endure a few bumps along the road to success and has now come out on top of her game.
Gem, who is also a grandmother, emphasized that the decision to participate in this pageant was not mainly for the crown, though if adjudged the winner she will gladly accept it. She said she feels her participation in the pageant will help other women of her age and more particularly those who are currently enduring the effects of domestic violence, to realize that life is not over for them, nor, as a matter of fact, is life over when a woman passes a certain age. “There is a period of renaissance and a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
