Karla Henry: Muse of the earth

MANILA, Philippines - At 22, statuesque beauty Karla Henry learned that in life, you have to follow what you want; and never should you let other people tell you otherwise.

“Because if I did, then I wouldn’t have joined Miss Philippines after Binibining Pilipinas,” she smiles sheepishly. Yet even after failing to bring home the crown at the latter pageant, Karla did her best to clinch the top title in the Miss Philippines. She went on to compete in the Miss Earth pageant and was eventually crowned Miss Earth 2008 after besting 84 other candidates from around the world. “I told myself that if I like joining pageants, I want to reach the ultimate goal which is to represent my country. So I worked very hard for it. I joined many pageants for more experience and I also trained on the side. But of course, I did not forget to have fun,” says Karla, the first Filipina to win the title.

Growing up with her dad and considering him as the biggest influence in her life, Karla reveals that never in her wildest dreams did she think she would become a beauty queen. She looks back and shares, “When my parents separated when I was 13, I stayed with my father. So I grew up with basketball and baseball. I am not so much of a girly girl.” It was in fourth year high school that her P.E. teacher asked her to represent the school in a pageant. “I asked my teacher what’s in it for me if I would join the contest. He said that I would be exempted from CAT and during that time, CAT wasn’t very fun for me.” And so she agreed to join and never looked back.

Nine years ago, she moved to the Philippines from Canada. It wasn’t easy for this lovely lady but she acknowledges that life has been very kind to her. Before joining pageants, she had a 9-to-5 job as an hotelier in Cebu. She then moved to Manila to participate in beauty contests.

The first two weeks after winning Miss Earth was “pretty intense,” Karla describes. Together with the runners-up, Karla went around public schools to teach elementary pupils in public schools about environmental awareness. She promoted the “Green Thumbs Up” project, which enumerates 10 simple acts that these kids can practice at home. She also amazingly let her hair down during a coastal cleanup in Manila Bay. “That was one of the most memorable projects I did. People were quite surprised that we actually went to the beach and helped with the cleanup,” says Karla, who admits that spreading environmental awareness is not an easy task “because people are skeptical that when they go green, it’s expensive and more of a hassle for them.”

“Being crowned Miss Earth changed my life in a way that I became aware that preserving and conserving the environment is something to be really serious about. A lot of people think that we joined this just for the glitz and glamour of it all and that we don’t really come up with anything to help the environment,” explains Karla. “But because Miss Earth is focused on its cause, we really do get involved in a lot of activities with DENR and private corporations. Miss Earth has helped me become more aware of how my little actions can affect our environment.”

Having realized that caring for the environment is a daunting duty, this down-to-earth beauty is bent on doing her best to save Plant Earth. “I can say that I felt more complete as a woman now,” she concludes.