Landmine victims star in Angola pageant

Organizers say they want the pageant to restore the women's pride and raise awareness about the prevalence of landmines left over from Angola's three decade-long civil war. Undetonated mines still maim 300 to 400 people a year in the county, according to the United Nations.

"I'm completely enthusiastic about participating," said one of the contestants, 25-year-old Paulina Vadi. "I think that it will give society a wake-up call to be more attentive to disabled people in general."

Vadi was a fourth-grader when she went to a field to gather fruit. A sudden military attack sent her running for cover. She stepped on a Russian-made mine and lost her right leg.

That was 11 years ago.

Now Vadi lives with her mother and three school-aged children. She works as a street vendor, selling beer and soda. She said she entered the pageant because she wants to be able to return to school.

The contestants represent Angola's various provinces and range in age from 19 to 33.

Their profiles list not only their ages and favorite colors but also when they were injured and what kind of mine claimed their limbs. Most were maimed while tending fields, and they are now unemployed.

Vadi's photograph has her reclined atop a safe, a tiara on her head and a stack of cash in her left hand. Her sash reads, "Huila," the province she is representing.

All the contestants will receive governmental help to go back to school or to start a small business. The winner gets a new prosthetic limb.