Filipino children take center stage for Tel Aviv beauty contest

Francesca Fueros ascends the stage during the swimsuit section of the beauty pageant. The director of the event stands on the sidelines, urging her on with shouts of "be sexy."

Fueros, 5.5 years old, stops in front of the microphone and introduces herself to the judges in fluent Hebrew.

So goes candidate number four in the 2009 Miss Twinkle Star beauty and folklore competition, which stars the children of Filipino workers in Israel.

Last Saturday night, members of the Filipino community gathered at the Barbur Center in Tel Aviv for the beauty and talent competition, which has become a tradition.

The competition's declared goal is "a statement of thanks to the State of Israel," according to its organizers. But it is also a serious attempt to make an outward show, and perhaps to convince themselves, that life will go on as usual for these children, whose lives may drastically change in November.

That is when the Interior Ministry's Oz Unit is slated to begin deporting illegal migrant workers, even if they have families here.

"It's important to us to show the decision makers that we have something to offer and to contribute to the country," said the mistress of ceremonies, Hermina Ocampo. "I hope that they will recognize our many talents, and that it will touch their hearts, and they will understand that all of us here are Israeli."

Ministers, MKs, and members of the Tel Aviv City Council were invited, but the only one who saw fit to acknowledge the event was Education Minister Gideon Saar, who is currently abroad. In a letter to the children, Saar wrote, "Over the last few months, I have fought alongside you to prevent deportation. Most of you were born and raised in Israel, your language is Hebrew, and you study in the Israeli educational system. I will continue to act to prevent the situation from worsening and I believe that together we will succeed."

Ruti Yarkoni is a first grade teacher at the Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel Aviv, where most of the pupils are the children of immigrant workers and refugees.

"It's nice to see the children so happy, and not only to see them in the context of the fear of deportation," she said.

Yarkoni, who came to watch her pupils, said that "at the end of the last school year, we had a long and difficult parting, because we suspected we would not see most of them this year. When the move was postponed, we were so happy. I teach a class of 30, 10 are the children of refugees and are protected, but the rest live under threat. I hope a way will be found to keep them here - it's their home."

The show, presented in English, Tagalog and Hebrew, began with a number of benedictions, and the singing of the Filipino and Israeli anthems. It continued with songs of peace, such as "Heal the World" and "We are the World." While they were singing, the children on stage formed the words "Thank you, Israel" with their bodies.

Backstage, the 12 candidates for the Miss Twinkle Star title were putting on their pink dresses, and being heavily made-up by their proud mothers. An unceasing stream of laughter played against conversations about everything but the reality of life hiding in the background.

"I know we have a problem here, we spoke about it in nursery school," said Fueros between her appearances on the stage. "But now we are here and it's fun."

Fueros was optimistic about the show: "We had a lot of rehearsals and it will be fine."

The girls ascend the stage and perform a traditional dance; in a short time one is awarded the first title of the evening for "Best Dance."

After her, others are awarded additional titles, for example, for "Best Casual Dress." It's obvious there won't be any losers tonight.

A hip-hop group mounts the stage, while chaos breaks out again in the back: participants in the sports clothes competition have to get ready.

Nicole Levia, 5, approaches the piano in the dressing area. It looks like she'd have rather taken part in the artistic portion of the evening.

"Come play the piano with me," she urges a competition colleague, but the girl is too busy listening to her mother's instructions about how to swing a racket.

"This is fun," Levia says while banging on the keys, adding slightly grating sounds to the room's din. "I haven't got one at home."

Levia knows about the impending deportation.

"Yes, I want to stay. This is my home. Look what fun it is here," she says with determination and runs to her mother, who wants to add another layer of red lipstick to her daughter's lips.