Miss Dominican Republic

Claudia Julissa Cruz Rodriguez

Claudia was born in Santa Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. A country blessed with warm sun the whole year, beaches, mountains, rivers and even forests, which combined with the excellent food, make it paradise for both locals and visitors. Claudia has just finished High School and commenced her studies in Psychology but her ambition is to make a carer in show business. One of her special talents is dancing, she also enjoys teaching young children the joy of dance and song and hopes that one day if she does well in her career she will be able to open a free Performing Arts School for Children and help them develop their abilities. In her leisure time she enjoys: Reading, cooking, volleyball, singing with the choir, and all types of modern and Latin American dance.


Where did you grow up? Tell us a little about your home town/city, and family.
I grew up in the most beautiful country that anybody can grow up in. Filled with warm sun the whole year, where rain is a blessing from God and people are gratefully treasured. Beaches, Mountains, rivers and even forests combined with excellent food is what makes the Dominican Republic a paradise for locals and visitors who feel like home.

What Jobs have you done? What was the most interesting/bizarre?
As I am a dancer, once I had to attend or make a little show in a home for underprivileged kids. After the show we had to talk to the whole audience full of children and receive the feedback, but there was this child that didn’t say a word. This changed when suddenly he started dancing. His face changed to a total happiness in a second. When he finished, he finally decided to talk saying to me "I want to Dance". I couldn’t resist and became his dance teacher.

What are your career ambitions, how do you plan to realise them?
I decided to study psychology, because I love to discover what is in the mind of people and I feel the need to help people to achieve their goals or feel better, but my true passion is music: singing, dancing and performing. I want to make a career in show business or as an artist. That would give me the opportunity to create a performing arts school where at no cost, or a very low cost, boys and girls of my country will develop their ability and feel as I do about the happiness that singing and dancing can bring.

What is the proudest moment of your life? (Not including winning your National Title)
About a year and a half ago, I injured my knee so bad that I thought my career as a dancer was over. At that time I had an encounter with Jesus and placed my life in His hands. He gave me the light to discover myself to sing in the church choir to overcome all situations. I started to sing in the church choir meanwhile I struggled to recover and heal my knee. Now I know that everything happens for a reason and I am stronger with Him.

What was the funniest/most embarrassing moment of your life?
I have two dogs that play all the time. One day I was so tired that I went home directly to my bedroom and fell in my bed without paying any attention to them. They came in to my room, sat at the end of my bed and looked sadly as if they knew what was happening! It was so funny that I couldn’t resist. I woke up and played with them all the afternoon…They teach me something everyday!

What was the funniest/most embarrassing moment of your life?
To become Miss Mundo Dominicana" has been a life lasting experience because I won the title by the votes of the people from my country. They were the jury! To win with the majority vote of the audience has made me proud of my country and more secure with myself.

Tell us about an interesting event you have attended, or a person that you have met.
I had the opportunity to meet one of the most famous baseball players of Dominican Republic: Pedro Martinez who nevertheless is famous because he is a great player and makes a lot of money, but at the same time is so humble and one of the most beautiful persons I’ve ever met. He is always helping people and being human.

What would you like to do, if you became Miss World 2004?
If I was to become Miss World, I want to work for the poor children of the world. Their situation affects me deeply and I think that in my position as Miss World I will work to raise funds to help them and satisfy their needs, so they can grow strong and capable of dreaming and achieving their own goals in life.

If you had a personal motto what would it be?
"All things put in the hands of Jesus are not impossible to achieve"

Give details of any charitable work undertaken?
After the experience with the boy, I worked on my dance school to continue to hold shows in children’s’ foster homes in order to encourage them to practice arts and singing, dancing, painting and playing instruments etc. As a delegate of Miss Mundo Dominicana we worked to raise funds for two institutions: "Accion Callejera" (Street Action) to help and take care of abandoned and street children. At "Casa Rosada" (Pink House) they care and attend to children (mostly girls) with AIDS (HIV), because their families can’t take care of them.

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