Beauty queens drumbeat for mother earth with "Project Noel"

CEBU, Philippines - Miss Philippines-Water 2009 Kirstie Joan Babor believes that before successfully prodding individuals to become responsible environmental stewards, a visual jolt is needed for them to realize the extent of their contribution to the Earth's destruction. Target first the heart before the mind, she theorized.

This led her Miss Philippines-Earth batch to come up with a short film as their legacy project which tackles the urgent question: "What are the threats to Mother Earth?"

Titled "Project Noel", the film centers on Noel (played by ABS-CBN's Jairus Aquino), a scholar of St. James Elementary School. The young boy is fond of gathering waste materials and finding ways to recycle them, inspired by his father, played by Jojit Loreno, a garbage collector.

As part of their finals and in a bid to represent the school in a nationwide contest, they were required to make a Science Project that pertains to threats to our environment. Along with his wealthy groupmates played by Yong-An Chiu, Mark Joshua Sarayot and Sophia Baars, they embark on to create a meaningful project that will teach the value of resource management and instill in each one of us our responsibility towards Mother Earth.

"Project Noel" was one of three documentaries that was shown during last month's SM Supermalls Green Film Festival in cooperation with Miss Philippines-Earth, Carousel Productions, Miss Earth Foundation and Manila Water. SM City Cebu Cinema also screened the environmental advocacy films "State of the Planet" and "The 11th Hour".

The free film showing was attended by students from different public schools in Cebu City, with the special appearance of Kirstie and her colleagues namely, Miss Philippines-Fire 2009 Patricia Marie Tumulak, who is also ambassador of the Department of Science and Technology; Miss Earth 2008 Karla Paula Henry; and Miss Philippines Earth 2009 candidate from Lipa, Reina Maerina.

"Every year, each batch should have a legacy project for Miss Philippines. It began in 2006, where Cathy Untalan and her court made a book titled 'Bakawan.' This material was used for the Department of Education's Bright Minds Read campaign and in newspaper read-alongs. For 2007, the girls created reusable bags made of plastic scraps for the I Love Me project. Then during Karla Henry's batch, they had the '20k OK', wherein they planted 20,000 seedlings around the Philippines. For our batch, we came up with this film," explained Kirstie who acted as the film's production design manager aside from doing a cameo role as a flood victim.

Her crowned batchmates, which include Miss Philippines-Earth 2009 Sandra Inez Seifert, Miss Philippines Eco-Tourism Adie Adelantar, and Miss Philippines-Air Michelle Martha Braun, took turns working on ocular visits to scene locations, script planning, school visits, wardrobe and props preparation.

"This film is really for schools and communities. We have school visits every week. But since Miss Earth is an international organization, we will also be bringing Project Noel in the international arena. We'll put subtitles and mass-produce it," said the 23-year-old native of Alegria, Cebu.

A model and registered nurse who earned her degree from Velez College, Kirstie has had a string of beauty pageant awards before joining Miss Philippines-Earth last year. She was Miss Philippines Fame 2004, Miss Lapu-Lapu 2005 first runner-up, Miss Mandaue 2006 fourth runner-up and Mutya Han Samar 2008.

Her stint in the advocacy-driven beauty contest has brought her to scenic attractions in the Philippines such as Siargao and Palawan, to the most foul-smelling places for tree plantings and coastal clean-ups. She issues a fair warning to Miss Earth aspirants: If you don't have the stomach for dirty work, forget joining this pageant.

"Mukatkat jud mi og bukid bisan unsa ka-ulan ug kalapok. In Manila Bay, there was basically no water. We were all stepping on trash," she shared of her year-long experience.

Apart from those activities and helping create "Project Noel", Kirstie treasures the priceless interactions she's had with school kids.

"The school tours we do every week are the most memorable. We visit so many schools, from elementary to high school. We teach them the green lifestyle like, why don't they walk or ride a bike instead of riding a vehicle when their destination is just near, or using eco-bags instead of plastics to minimize trash. We also give them tips on how to have a healthy lifestyle," she said. "The experience was very touching because we became someone the kids can look up to and be of influence to them."