Greek Australian beauty Perrie Kapernaros is doing all she can to make sure underprivileged kids get the same literary opportunities as she had. A passionate writer, and budding journalist, Perrie says her having a childhood surrounded by books opened her imagination and allowed her to dream big. And those dreams have taken her to the national finals for Miss International Australia 2013, where she says she is competing to promote the program Goodness Books Foundation.
The program falls under the banner of the Touch of Goodness foundation, who have a variety of programs helping the community. But Perrie has taken the Goodness Books Foundation under her wing as its program is close to her heart.
“My childhood pushed me to do it, because the thought of other children not being able to experience what I experienced for reasons like not having enough money or access really broke my heart,” Perrie tells Neos Kosmos.
The program is designed to help boost literacy levels in Australia by raising funds to buy books and tools for underprivileged children and indigenous communities.
In remote regions of Australia, four out of five indigenous children aged 0-5 cannot read or write, with some of these children never owning a book. Studies have found that around 15 per cent of children moving to secondary school do not meet minimum literacy standards.
This gap in the education system has led to around 4.5 million working-age Australians not having the literacy skills to succeed in the workplace.
“In this technology age there are a lot of kids spending time in front of the TV and iPad and no one is really reading anymore, and the reason why I felt so strongly about this is because I spent most of my childhood with my head in books,” she explains.
“My love of writing and words came from a childhood surrounded by books; it opens your mind to the big wide world and a person’s imagination really broadens when they have this whole new world open up to them.”
The Touch of Goodness Foundation run the pageant and, as a previous pageant participant, Perrie thought she would get involved to aid the program but also have a bit of fun for herself. She says unlike pageants that focus on beauty and how you look in a bikini, this pageant is “very much focused on the goodness of the girl”, meaning participants who want to wear the crown have to do good in the community.
“Miss International Australia is a great stage where the worlds of charity, accomplishment and stage presence come together,” says Sylvie Boutros, Founder of the Touch of Goodness Foundation.
To find out more about Perrie’s Goodness Book Program or to donate, visit www.touchofgoodness.org.au