Younglife Foundation | Press Release - Jigs Arquiza interviews the reigning Frøken Norge, Miss Norway World.

She comes from a land of ice and snow and the midnight sun, but unlike her Viking forebears who sallied
forth with axes and armor, she came to the Philippines armed with a warm smile and a giving heart.

Jigs Arquiza interviews the reigning Frøken Norge, Miss Norway World.

"It's my first time to visit Asia," explained 18-year-old Sara Skjoldnes, Miss Norway 2009, while walking to
the location for the pictorial. Asked what she thought of the Philippines so far, she commented on the
differences she had seen after only a day's stay in the country.

"I'm staying in a beautiful hotel, it's paradise!" she says enthusiastically about Shangri-La's Mactan Resort
and Spa, but she adds with a hint of sadness in her voice "I've seen that there are a lot of poor people
here, and it shouldn't be that way."

Explaining further, she said that "I'm very proud to be the Ambassador of Goodwill" for the Younglife
Health Care and Educational Foundation, a group of Europeans (mostly Norwegians) and Filipinos who do
their best to uplift the lives of the underprivileged children here in Cebu. As part of her duties as
Ambassador for the Younglife Foundation, she visited Pasil last Wednesday to inspect the foundation's
projects in the barangay, as well as spend some time with the barangay's children.

"I'm thankful that I am able to help," Sara declared emotionally, adding that "It's an honor to be able to help
save a child."

Describing herself as very "down-to-earth," Sara admitted that it was actually her first time to join a
beauty contest. Winning the pageant doesn't seem to have changed her, to which she agrees, "I'm still an
ordinary girl."

And it seems, with ordinary tastes, too. She confesses to a liking for rock and roll bands, explaining that
"In Scandinavia, we have a lot of good bands." She does, however, have other interests such as
dancing, singing and theater acting. Once in a while, she also goes clubbing with her friends. And for the
interested males out there, Sara doesn't have a boyfriend at the moment, although she would be very
hard-pressed to have a relationship right now because of her responsibilities to her crown.
'Why didn't I do that?'

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