The competition for the Miss Universe crown began; Susy Sacoto, Miss Ecuador 2021, is already in Israel

In the six suitcases that he carries as luggage, Susy sacoto, Miss Ecuador 2021, you have saved almost all the items you need for your competition in the Miss Universe beauty pageant. On her phone, on the other hand, she keeps each of the recommendations and tips that each of the members of the WhatsApp group ‘Miss Ecuador forever’ have shared with her, to which she was added and made up of the Ecuadorian women who, like her, have won the crowns the title it now holds.

Before her trip to Israel, the country where the 70th edition of the competition will take place on December 13, Susy spoke with this newspaper about her preparations for this challenge to which she travels accompanied by her parents (the rest of her family also plans to go ) and in which he emphasizes he wants to project naturalness. For this reason, even the color of her hair stopped being blonde to become a darker tone.

The 24-year-old manabita speaks English and French, plays the piano and aspires – she says – to fulfill the objective of her trip while enjoying the experience.

How have these months of preparation for the Miss Universe been?

Time has flown by and since I was crowned Miss Ecuador (the gala was held on September 11 in Quevedo) certain details had to be polished and I have been preparing hand in hand with the organization in terms of public speaking, image projection professional, catwalk, I have received tips from national and foreign trainers and thus we have built what will be my preparation for the Miss Universe.

I have lived to the full day by day since my election, there are so many things that have to be assimilated, that there are so many details that make a difference in the preparation of a candidate in the Miss Universe, but it is a dream come true, it is a goal, a I challenge that I intend to make an effort and give all my commitment to be able to leave Ecuador at the top of the Miss Universe.

We are still polishing details regarding the suitcases, I have about five or six suitcases. The idea is not to wear an excessive amount of outfits. The idea is to take only what is necessary and a just in case, which never hurts. There is a small bag just in case.

When are your family and the organization’s planned entourage planning to travel?

On 25 (November) my parents and three people from the organization accompany me, but from 4 (December) my uncles and grandparents travel, so they will be supporting me there.

How many costumes and what designers will wear her during her intervention at the Miss Universe?

I have always prioritized Ecuadorian talent, I have been advised by María Delia Torres who is part of the Miss Ecuador organization. The outfits They have been made by a designer from Quevedeño precisely who is Edison López, I also carry other outfits of Ecuadorian designers. My final gala and preliminary suit, yes, they come from Colombia, but I still largely wear suits made by Ecuadorians.

I still have some souvenirs that I plan to give to the candidates, which are handmade bracelets with crystals and bathed in gold and I also plan to bring them souvenirs of tagua, to explain to them where this ancestral seed comes from.

My typical costume is from Jefferson Vera and it symbolizes the Pachamama, who is the goddess of fertility, who is worshiped by the Andes. I love it because Miss Universe this year is quite focused on environmental care and my costume coincides with being that it is zero animal abuse.

It is made entirely with organic materials, it has five types of dried bananas that are extracted from Manabí, it has wooden decorations, it has dried coconut, it also has nupis, which are seeds treated in such a way that when they collide with each other they generate a sound.

What do you take from your native Portoviejo with you to the contest?

In addition to being able to tell all the girls in the Miss Universe, how diverse we are and the rich culture that we are in Portoviejo and in gastronomy, I carry in my heart the support they gave me from the beginning that I entered this world of contests of beauty, in 2017 at the Reina de Portoviejo, all this journey, with their support and affection in the caravan that welcomed me when I won Miss Ecuador, motivated me in my preparation.

Each Ecuadorian representative, before the Miss Universe, keeps in contact or has approached ex-queens to tell her about their experiences and provide advice, who has she contacted or advised?

It turns out that when I won the Miss Ecuador I was added to a WhatsApp group where I believe the vast majority of exmisses Ecuador is, so, from them I have received certain advice regarding stage development, many recommend me and that is what I I have also been able to live, in the course of as a candidate for Miss Ecuador, that I enjoy the experience a lot, which is an opportunity that not many have and of course it is important to live it to the thousand, enjoy it and be, yes, focused on the goal. Those are the advice I always get from them.

Who are in the WhatsApp chat of the misses?

The group is called Miss Ecuador forever and there is Constanza Báez, Anita Laniado, Cristina Hidalgo, Jacqueline Burgos, Connie Jiménez, Claudia Schiess, María Eugenia Molina.

“The idea is to keep everyone (the followers) informed through social networks and have the support of everyone because there are voting through the Miss Universe application. They have to download the application, find the delegates or candidates, find the name of Ecuador and vote. The first vote is always free, from that I think you have to pay a fee ”, Susy Sacoto.

Do you already know who your roommate will be in the contest and the contest agenda?

No, we haven’t been assigned yet rommie, I imagine that when we register, which is the first activity that we are going to have there in Israel, we will be assigned our rommies. I understand that the first two days will be a wardrobe test, because Miss Universe asks us for our measurements a few weeks before to make the suits that we are going to wear in the opening and in certain productions, then we are going to have costume fitting and rehearsals.

The first days we will be in Jerusalem and from December 4 we move to Tel Aviv.

In the midst of the pandemic that is going through the world, why is it important to develop, participate or organize a beauty contest?

Many people, in fact, look at beauty pageants as something purely superficial, but what I love about organizations in general is that they are first work platforms for those who make up the board and the staff of the organization, and beyond being a platform that generates income, is that Miss Ecuador is an agent of change, therefore it contributes in society through its social project. So it is much more than being a pretty face or a toned body, it is a social aid, so, despite the fact that we are going through a difficult time such as COVID-19, there are misses that have contributed with kits and different aids and that is what you should weigh when analyzing a beauty pageant.

Couldn’t preparing for international competition divert your attention from social projects?

I have the support of my family, and despite the fact that I have been focused for these weeks on my preparation for the Miss Universe, they have been contacting me about my social project which is a campaign to prevent blindness due to glaucoma, to separate Certain appointments, I have been referring them to one of the offices in Guayaquil so that they can have their consultation and be diagnosed. Additionally, I have been doing other social tasks, we have visited an orphanage this week where I gave donations of sweets, I visited the girls, I shared a moment with them. Yes it is possible, I have always said that wanting is power, and it is important to prepare without neglecting the social part as Miss.

While the Miss Universe crown cannot be promised, what are your expectations?

My expectations are to be able to enjoy the company of my companions, to be able to convey to everyone what is important and beautiful about our country, on a cultural and historical level, to be able to generate an impact for the good and for them to say that Ecuador has everything to be able to visit and for what not to stay and live. For me it would be an honor to qualify and I am prepared and psyched for that, but I do not want to stop enjoying this experience.

What has it meant to you to be exposed as a public figure and receive negative comments on social media?

Precisely in the interviews that I have had in Miss Universe, who asked me this, it is that it does impact every time they say something (negative comments), because it is not that I am a machine, I am not a robot, it does impact the issue of criticism More than anything because you never expect one woman to attack another, when we all seek the same thing that is to convey love and how powerful we can be, and you never imagine receiving criticism from another woman. But what I knew how to do was handle it in the most mature way that I could face it, so I absorb the positive reviews and discard the negative ones. This way I show myself how capable I am, so people can see it and without wanting it, people began to notice it and there are more comments from people supporting me.

Beauty pageants look for empowered women with stories of overcoming in their participants, what motivates a lawyer and medical student, as in her case, to enroll in one of them?

It really is that I have been planning it for years, this was not a spontaneous decision of wanting to be Miss Ecuador overnight. This has been a goal that I set for myself since I was very young and I have been building little by little hand in hand and with the support of my family, who have been with me all this time. So yes, in fact I am a lawyer, I think it is super important because after all the laws regulate social behavior, but I was always passionate about medicine because my father is an ophthalmologist and I first wanted to build the first year of medicine, which many colleagues agree with me, that the most difficult process is the first years and after that I had planned to complete my first year of medicine so that I could enter Miss Ecuador. I have not put it aside, I have paused my medical studies and I want to continue with that passion and that is why my social project is linked to that career.

My project is clearly focused on social health, with the support of the organization and with the eye clinic that is the family business, which has four locations, two in Guayaquil, one in Portoviejo and one in Santo Domingo. And the social project is Window to Life, which is a campaign to prevent early blindness caused by glaucoma.

Are there already beneficiaries of the campaign or is it still in the pipeline?

Of course, in fact, since Quevedo was the city that saw me crown as Miss Ecuador, I asked my family to create the first ophthalmological brigade in that city. It is really very exciting to know that when I was a candidate and they asked each of us for their social project, the annual goal that I mentioned was 400 patients and I have the satisfaction that only in one brigade we assumed 130 patients and these brigades are going to be given to throughout my reign as Miss Ecuador. And I am very excited that if we reach that number of patients with a single brigade, it means that I will even exceed the goal that I set for myself in terms of project beneficiaries.

Is this the only project of your reign or are there more social plans?

No, this is one of the projects, of course there are already foundations linked to the organization and I always have the good will to help, I believe that God’s times are perfect and if I am in this moment, living this precise moment of my life, is with the sole objective of serving. Beyond representing Ecuadorian beauty, serving moves me a lot and this platform allows me to do it, to create a positive impact. (I)