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local Thursday 7 July 2022
Charlene Leslie with a mission to

inspire, create and promote a more

healthy Aruba

Charlene Leslie is a 29 year become a teacher. After I said, why not. And once
old with a goal, to have a that I thought about physio- you’re in the world of mod-
healthier Aruba. Charlene therapy, but that wasn’t an eling, the world of beauty
is a professional dietitian, option for me either. Then pageants is connected to
and recently was certified I looked into the option to that”, she says. “The world
as a sports dietitian as well. become a sports dietitian, of beauty pageants wasn’t
She has her own practice, to help athletes with food, really my world, but the
Alimenta Dietetics and and then I thought that person who always helped
Health Promotion, where would be perfect for me me, Endy Croes, every year
she focus on the promotion because it is in the world of would ask me if I wanted to
of a healthy lifestyle. sports.” compete in the pageant,
and I would always say, ab-
Charlene completed sec- In 2010, Charlene went to solutely not!”
ondary school HAVO in Nijmegen in the Nether-
Aruba when she was only lands where she studied “When I came back from
16 years old, and because Alimentation and Dietet- the Netherlands, I saw the
of her young age, Char- ics, which she completed latest Miss Universe at the
lene stayed one more year in 2015. She came back to time, who was Pia Wurtz-
in Aruba, in order to ex- Aruba that same year, and bach from the Phillipines,
plore her options and de- meanwhile, she started a and another one who was
cide what would become masters course online in first runner-up for Miss USA,
the career that she wanted Epidemiology and Public who looked like real peo-
to pursue. “I completed Health. ple, who were beautiful on
the state exam in Biology Ever since she was young, the outside but were more
VWO, and I started with Charlene practiced ath- beautiful on the inside. This
Management and Orga- letics, and up until the is what changed my mind, and had to practice giv- in consultation, there’s a
nization and Economics as moment she went to the and I decided to give it a ing a consultation. In that lot of variation”, Charlene
well because I didn’t know Netherlands she was active try, and it was a unique op- moment she realized she said.
precisely what I wanted to in the world of athletics. portunity. Finally I went all liked this, but she found
do. I thought maybe some- Even in the Netherlands she the way to the Philippines other areas more interest- A big problem for the
thing related to manage- practiced the sport as well for Miss Universe, and that ing, like projects and tasks population of Aruba is the
ment, but in the end really with the team at Nijmegen. was a beautiful experience. she had to complete, like numbers of overweight
quickly I realized it was not I wouldn’t do it again, be- how to make a commu- and obesity, which Char-
something for me”, she In 2007, Charlene spread cause I realized indeed nity change its habits. From lene explains, together
says. her wings a little further that it’s not my world, but there she realized that these count for almost 80
and took part in the local while I was there, it was a health promotion was what percent of the population
“I knew I wanted to do competition, Aruba Model beautiful experience”, she she found really interesting. and this is a very high per-
something related to sport, Search., From there, a few says. centage. She explains that
and at first I thought to be- years later, she took part “When I came back from even though there are a
come a gym teacher, but in the beauty pageant Charlene says that during the Netherlands, I didn’t lot more people that are
I didn’t want to become Miss Universe representing her third and fourth years of want to work in consulta- aware, a lot more people
a teacher. I wanted to Aruba. “Through my friends study, she had to do vari- tion, I wanted to work in are active, a lot more think
do something related to who motivated me to take ous exercises for example health promotion. But I about what and when they
sports, but I didn’t want to part in Aruba Model Search with a client in front of her didn’t get an opportunity eat, what she finds wor-
to work in that area, thus I rying is that there are two
decided to open my dieti- extremes. “You have peo-
tian’s clinic in 2016. By the ple that are active almost
end of that same year I got every day, who eat very
a job in IBiSA in health pro- healthy, and that is great.
motion, and in 2018 when But on the other extreme,
my contract at IBiSA end- you have people who do
ed, I went back to consul- not eat healthy, eat a lot on
tation.” In 2021 she got the the go, maybe drink a lot of
opportunity to work with alcohol, and are not very
the Diabetes Foundation of active”, she said. “But ac-
Aruba on the PRISMA proj- tually in the middle, where
ect, and from there, more healthy eating is normal,
projects presented them- with regular activity with-
selves. She had her clinic out a lot of pressure, where
still, but she combined healthy eating and lifestyle
consultation with vari- is normal, you barely see
ous projects. “There isn’t a that. It is here where we
regular day for me. Each need to work to help these
day is different and that is people, so they can be a
precisely what I like about bit more aware and start
my job, that it’s not a day with small steps towards a
from morning to afternoon healthier lifestyle.”q