Ruënna Mercelina
Ruënna "Sugar" Mercelina (born January 18, 1992) is a Dutch Caribbean model, beauty queen and actress. She first became famous as a model, appearing twice on the covers of the "GO Weekly Magazine" and "Dolfijn FM Magazine". She is former titleholder of the Miss Caraibes Hibiscus Curaçao as well as winning Best in Evening Gown category. She is also the former Miss Teenager Curaçao, where she won the Miss Teenager Universe Congeniality Award of Miss Teenager. She completed her Marketing & Public Relations degree at the College of the Dutch Caribbean, and is now majoring at the University of  Curaçao in Education. Early life. Ruënna was born in the St. Elizabeth Hospital, and raised in a Roman Catholic home with both parents Ruthsella Mercelina - Troncon and Gwendell Mercelina Sr. She has an older brother Gwendell Mercelina Jr., who is four years older, whose also a well-known media personality and politician in Curaçao, international youth ambassador and was the former Youth Parliament President of "Curaçao". In her earlier years she attended Johan van Walbeeck Kindergarten and Elementary school, and then the Albert Schweitzer High School. Career. Modeling & Pageantry. At 12 years old she was discovered by local agent Mrs.  Emilka Eustachia from A2Z Models and started modeling while attending school. Later she participated in the Miss Curaçao Teenager pageant and fashion shows of the former Curaçao Beauty Organization of Mr. Aubrey America. Then she also helped the organization's Model Image division as model instructor for kids and pre-teens. In her first beauty pageant she won the titles of Miss Curaçao Teenager Talent, Most Beautiful Legs, Miss Internet, and got distinguished with the title of a major sponsor as Miss Kitatin (the most popular Dutch Caribbean online media community). In her first international appearances she was booked as  teen beauty ambassador for the Miss Ecstasy International in Anguilla where she scored the Miss Personality award, and then the Miss Caribbean Talented Teen in St. Kitts and Nevis. She would later appear on the covers of magazines such as 4 You-th and walked the runways of several national designers and fashion shows, and has featured in advertising campaigns for big national companies such as Albert Heijn, Fun Miles, Maduro & Curiel's Bank (MCB) and Post Spaarbank. She became the Miss University & College of the Dutch Caribbean in 2010 and represented the university in the national colleges and high  schools competition in carnival season in the national Teen King & Queen election. Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus. Ruënna Mercelina’s selection for Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus was done at the executive level of the pageant by "Mr. Patrick Eugene" using the international pageant judging criteria which includes overall appearance, beauty of the face, swimsuit, fitness, poise and elegance, personality, local and global awareness and intelligence. In December 2009, Curaçao made history in the Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus pageant when former Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus 2008, Laurien Angelista crowns Miss Caraïbes Hibiscus 2009, Angenie Simon both coming from the island of Curaçao. These girls where the  only winners from Curaçao in the pageant history, while in 2007 Clarissa Alberg scored with the First Runner-up title and in 2010 Ruënna Mercelina as finalist. Miss Teenager Universe. She holds the title of Miss Teenager Curaçao 2008, and was voted Miss Teenager Congeniality at the 2011 staging of Miss Teenager. In Guatemala, the Minister of Culture called her the Ebony Goddess. Ruënna “Sugar” Mercelina was the title-holder of Miss Teenager Curaçao and won in the pageant, the Miss Teenager Congeniality award of the Miss Teenager Universe. Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam. Ruënna served as hostess of the  First Inaugural "Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam". The first film festival of such magnitude and scope that ever took place on Curaçao. More than 25 films and 11 ‘shorts’ were screened in the new six-screen multiplex theater The Cinemas, located in the Otrobanda district of Willemstad, over a four-day period (was held from March 29 to April 1, 2012.) Curaçao Tourism Queen & Carnival Queen. She's the first person to accomplish seven out of eight titles in the National Carnival Queen Election. Ruenna was selected as Curaçao’s Tourism Queen 2013, and was also the one who inducted  the 2013 Curaçao’s Grand Carnival Parades. As an ambassador to the island of Curaçao, she served in neighbor island Aruba together with Venezuelan celebrities Leonardo Villalobos of “Super Sabado Sensacional” and actress Carolina Perpetuo, as judge for the Aruba’s 59th Carnival Queen and 19th Mrs. Carnival Queen. Acting. In the comedy “Gainan Fini” she played the lead role - a female writer who transforms into a homosexual man to write a book of the “gay community” life. The play recently toured the island of Aruba. She is also one of the main actresses in the international production company Endemol ’s new Dutch Caribbean youth soap-series titled “Ki bo Ke Men?” (What do you mean?). Recently she portrayed the lead role of the biggest theatrical play of the year 2012, "Tisha" a fifteen-year-old girl who faces some hard decisions including on whether to go through an unplanned pregnancy. The play which was shown to teens in the Dutch Caribbean and the Dutch Kingdom, explores issues such as tradition, sexual morality and personal choice. The play was written by Mr. "Albert Schoobaar" who also did the successful play “Deconstruction of Edsel K.”, which got nominated for Dutch Royal  con-decoration of “Appeltjes van Oranje” together with the direction of international Dutch director "Sylvia Andringa". Tisha is produced by "Teatro KadaKen". The play ran from March to November 2012 at the youth theatre “La Tentashon” in Willemstad, Curaçao. Philanthropy. On August 12, 2010, Ruënna Mercelina co-founded the WE LEAD Foundation, which aims at leadership, nation-building and life skills development. She is an ambassador of the WE LEAD Foundation,