THERESA TAYLOR
Nana Meriwether was born of two contrasting worlds: the elite society of Washington, DC, where she attended school with former US president Bill Clinton’s children, and a Limpopo mission hospital where her parents cared for forgotten refugees.
Sitting on her grandparents’ couch in Diepkloof, Soweto, Meriwether couldn’t be further away from her action-packed life in the US.
She smiles brightly. It’s not just her height that gives her away as a beauty pageant winner. She’s perfectly composed.
The young woman holds the Miss Maryland 2012 title and will compete in the Miss USA pageant this June. Meriwether is the product of a Soweto-born mother and an American father. In 1979 her mother Nomvimbi received a scholarship from the UN and went to do post-graduate studies in the US. When she was on the verge of returning home she met an American doctor.
Together they returned to SA and began working at a missionary hospital near the Kruger National Park.
They would drive the ambulance around, picking up Mozambican refugees.
“My husband would place refugees in a TB ward, where they could stay for a couple of months,” says Nomvimbi Meriwether.
At one stage there were 4 000 refugees living on the hospital campus. It is clear Nana got her beauty from her mother.
But she also got her sense of the world. Nana has a unique combination of qualities. She is the ultimate American girl – tall and skinny with a big smile and a drawling accent.
She can’t speak SA languages and would stand out at a taxi rank.
But at home in Maryland, while other families were cooking burgers or fried chicken, Nana’s mother ensured that her family experienced SA food and culture.
“That’s what makes me different from other people. From a young age I was taught a global identity.”
She has excelled in many aspects of life in the US.
She was made an All American – a yearly volleyball award for the best players in the country. Twice.
She has played professional sport and in 2008 she trained for the Olympics, but did not compete when she decided instead to return to school.
She has obtained a political science undergraduate qualification and is preparing for medical school.
And then there are the pageants. Why would a bright, athletic young woman want to become involved in beauty pageants? “I’ve done sports and other things but pageants are where I’ve grown. Where I’ve been taught the most about myself,” she says. It’s like doing a job interview in front of millions of people.
“The girls are all involved in their communities. These women are the smartest women I’ve ever met.”