Brunette Makanyiso Gives Zimbabwe a Powerful Miss World 2026 Story Through Tomorrow Starts Today
Brunette Makanyiso may have narrowly missed the Miss World 2026 crown, but the 26-year-old pharmacist gave Zimbabwe and Africa plenty to celebrate on the international stage. Representing Zimbabwe at the prestigious global pageant, Makanyiso secured a place in the Top 12 after her Beauty With a Purpose project, Tomorrow Starts Today, earned recognition among the competition’s strongest humanitarian initiatives. Her achievement placed the experiences of young people affected by poverty at the centre of an international conversation. More importantly, her project showed how personal hardship can inspire practical action that creates opportunities for others. Makanyiso’s journey demonstrated that success at Miss World is not measured only by how far a contestant advances in the final competition, but also by the impact she creates beyond the stage.
Makanyiso, who hails from Chitungwiza, built her Miss World campaign around a cause that is closely connected to her own life. Her experience growing up in difficult circumstances shaped her understanding of poverty and strengthened her determination to help young people access opportunities. Rather than focusing solely on charitable donations, she developed Tomorrow Starts Today around youth empowerment, skills development and poverty alleviation. The initiative is built around five pathways, namely learn, build, grow, trade and thrive, which reflect her belief that people need practical tools and opportunities to improve their circumstances. Through this approach, Makanyiso positioned her project as a long-term response to poverty rather than a short-term solution.
Beauty With a Purpose has been one of the defining elements of the Miss World competition for decades. Established in 1972, the initiative recognises contestants who use their public platforms to address social challenges and create meaningful change in their communities. Contestants are encouraged to develop projects that respond to real needs and demonstrate measurable impact. For Makanyiso, the programme provided an international platform to explain why poverty remains a deeply personal issue for her. Her story connected her own childhood experiences with a broader mission to help disadvantaged young people gain the skills and education they need to build more secure futures.
During the Miss World Head-to-Head Challenge, Makanyiso spoke openly about the hardships she experienced as a child. She recalled growing up in a household where food insecurity was a reality and explained that she lived with her grandmother, her young mother and many other grandchildren. She also revealed that she experienced malnutrition and remembered relying on Red Cross food packages during difficult periods. These experiences gave her a direct understanding of what poverty means beyond statistics and economic measurements. Her decision to speak openly about her childhood also helped communicate the personal motivation behind Tomorrow Starts Today and the urgency of the work she is trying to advance.
Makanyiso’s journey from childhood poverty to becoming a pharmacist and Miss World Zimbabwe became a central part of her message. She explained that her own life convinced her that poverty should not determine what a person can achieve. Her academic and professional journey provided a powerful example of how education and opportunity can change an individual’s prospects. By sharing that story, she challenged the idea that people born into difficult circumstances should accept those circumstances as permanent. Her message was particularly significant because it connected her personal achievements with her commitment to creating similar opportunities for young people who may not have access to the same resources.
The inspiration for Tomorrow Starts Today also came from an ordinary conversation with her sister. Makanyiso recalled preparing to eat a meal when her sister asked whether she understood how many people would go to bed hungry that night. That question prompted her to think beyond the immediate problem of hunger and consider what would happen to those people the following day. The sisters initially launched the #NoOneGoesToBedHungryTonight social media campaign to raise awareness and provide support. Makanyiso eventually recognised that food assistance, while essential, could not address the structural causes that keep families and young people trapped in poverty.
This realisation became the foundation for Tomorrow Starts Today. Makanyiso wanted to move beyond giving people temporary assistance and instead help them develop the skills and resources needed to improve their lives. Her approach involved identifying people within communities who possessed valuable skills and connecting them with young people who could benefit from their knowledge. One early example involved a church member who worked as a chef and agreed to train 20 girls in culinary skills. The initiative demonstrated how existing skills within a community can become a valuable resource when people are willing to share their knowledge with others.
The project later expanded to include carpenters, tailors and other skilled individuals who could train young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This created a grassroots network based on skills transfer, mentorship and practical development. The model is simple but significant because it recognises that communities often contain people with knowledge that can help others become economically active. Makanyiso’s role involved connecting those individuals with young people who needed opportunities to learn. By building these relationships, Tomorrow Starts Today has focused on helping beneficiaries develop abilities that could eventually support employment, entrepreneurship and greater financial independence.
Education also forms an important part of Makanyiso’s strategy for addressing poverty. She revealed that the initiative had raised US$10,000 to assist underprivileged children with school fees. The fundraising effort reflects her belief that education can give young people access to opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach. Supporting school attendance can also help address some of the long-term effects of poverty by giving children the opportunity to develop knowledge and qualifications. By combining education support with practical skills development, Tomorrow Starts Today seeks to address poverty from several angles rather than relying on a single intervention.
The recognition Makanyiso received at Miss World highlighted the strength of that approach. Tomorrow Starts Today emerged as the outstanding Beauty With a Purpose project in Africa and ranked second overall globally among 111 projects submitted by contestants. Although she narrowly missed a place in the Top 6, her humanitarian achievement gave Zimbabwe a significant presence in one of the most important components of the competition. Miss World Malaysia Taanusiya Chetty ultimately won the Beauty With a Purpose segment and later finished as second runner-up in the main competition. Makanyiso’s recognition nevertheless showed that her project had earned attention at the highest level of the pageant’s humanitarian programme.
Her Top 12 finish further strengthened Zimbabwe’s showing at Miss World 2026. While the ultimate crown went to Joheirry Mola of the Dominican Republic, Makanyiso remained one of the contestants who attracted attention because of the substance behind her participation. Elisabeth Reynés of Spain was named first runner-up, while Chetty of Malaysia took the second runner-up position. For Zimbabwe, Makanyiso’s performance provided more than a pageant result because it placed a locally rooted social initiative before an international audience. Her story also demonstrated how contestants can use global competitions to highlight challenges affecting their communities while presenting practical responses to those challenges.
Makanyiso’s Miss World journey ultimately shows why Beauty With a Purpose remains an important part of the competition. Her story was not built around an abstract campaign but around experiences she had personally witnessed and endured. Tomorrow Starts Today has focused on skills, education and opportunities because Makanyiso understands that lasting change requires more than temporary relief. Her work also highlights the potential that exists within communities when skilled individuals are encouraged to share their knowledge with young people who need opportunities. Even without taking home the Miss World crown, Makanyiso succeeded in putting Zimbabwe’s name alongside a meaningful humanitarian cause and giving Africa another powerful example of purpose-driven leadership.
