It's been an exciting year for one of the Miss Universe Canada finalists.
Born and raised in Prince George, Rameeta Dhaliwal competed in the beauty pageant in May.
She then took the fundraising for the worthy causes associated with the contest to a whole other level, traveling to see where the $25,157 she raised actually went.
Dhaliwal recently traveled to Nicaragua to take part in Operation Smile, that does corrective surgery for children with cleft palettes and lips, and as a nurse, she even assisted in a surgery while in Estelli with Dr. Rodrigo Cabrera Mendieta.
"I joined the pageant not only for the beauty aspect of it but because of what it's known for," said Dhaliwal. "When you join Miss Universe Canada you are an ambassador and you do all this charity work."
Dhaliwal placed second place in the humanitarian category in the Miss Universe Canada contest, right behind Chanel Beckenlehner, who took the crown of Miss Universe Canada 2014.
When Dhaliwal went to Nicaragua, it was the first time she had traveled for charity work.
The first step was the evaluation of the children in need of the surgery in Estelli.
There were more than 100 children evaluated and 80 were selected to get the surgery, depending on if they were in good health.
After the evaluation, the surgeries were performed within the next four days.
"It was definitely a life-changing experience to actually be able to see where the funds I raised went to," said Dhaliwal. "When you get to witness what it does, it's just incredible. It makes me want to push harder and continue doing this."
In her nursing experience she has never been in the operating room before so assisting the doctor during surgery was a first for her, said the UNBC nursing grad.
"It was kinda sad to see the child being put under but I just kept telling myself that in the end it was going to be successful and the child would have a beautiful smile and it was going to be amazing," said Dhaliwal, who said she could never go into pediatric medicine because of the emotional challenges.
The other part of the Miss Universe Canada charity component is SOS Children's Villages and Dhaliwal was able to visit five of six villages while in Nicaragua where orphaned, abandoned and at-risk children are cared for.
"Everything is provided for the children in the village including school, meals, shelter, and a loving mother," said Dhaliwal. "I absolutely fell in love with every single child in the village. It touched my heart again because all the children were very welcoming even though some had been abused, raped, and left on the streets."
Because of the visit, Dhaliwal will now double her charity fundraising efforts and raise funds for both Operation Smile and SOS Children's Villages.
Dhaliwal has lived and worked in Vancouver for a year but her ultimate goal is to return to Prince George when it's time for her to raise her family.
"I want them to be raised in a small town just like I was," said Dhaliwal.
