Kristania Virginia Besouw (born 7 May 1985) is an Indonesian-American former military nurse and beauty pageant titleholder, notable for being

Miss Indonesia Miss Indonesia is a national beauty pageant in Indonesia, organized by MNC Group under Miss Indonesia Organization, chaired by Liliana Tanoesoedibjo and sponsored by Sariayu Martha Tilaar. The winner of Miss Indonesia represents the country in M ...

2006. She was the first Miss Indonesia in the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

Pageant (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

), representing

North Sulawesi North Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is mainly located on the Minahasa Peninsula of the island of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia, but also includes various small archipel ...

. She placed within the big 24 Miss Sport, and promoted the importance of infant

measles vaccination Measles vaccine protects against becoming infected with measles. Nearly all of those who do not develop immunity after a single dose develop it after a second dose. When the rate of vaccination within a population is greater than 92%, outbreaks ...

on behalf of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, earning her the nickname 'Ratu Campak' (Queen of Measles).

Early life

Besouw was born in

Manado Manado (, ) is the capital City status in Indonesia, city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 census giving a population of 451,916,Badan ...

on 7 May 1985, to the late Yannemen Besouw, an Indonesian ex-naval serviceman, and Esther Tampi. Her paternal grandfather was a police officer. Born to a military family, Besouw was described by her brother, Stevano Besouw, as a tomboy. She entered formal education at SD Negeri Kombi (Kombi State Elementary), then moved to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

to attend SD Pangkalan Jati. She then moved to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and there attended the

Pakistan International School A Pakistan International School () is a school based outside Pakistan which promotes the national curriculum. These schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and cater mainly to students who ar ...

Beijing, and Beijing 55 International School. For her secondary schooling, she returned to Indonesia and attended Ebenezer Secondary School in Manado for lower and upper secondary. Subsequently, she was admitted to the International Business Administration program at Sam Ratulangi University's Faculty of Economics.

In the United States Army

In 2007, a year after winning the Miss Indonesia pageant, Besouw moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(her mother was already in the country), initially on a B1/B2 visa, later adjusting status to F1 (student). She first settled in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, then moved to

Colby, Kansas Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 5,570. History In 1882, a post office was established near the center of Thomas County. Area homesteaders ...

, citing lower costs, where she pursued a degree in Nursing; this had the effect of terminating her studies at Sam Ratulangi University. Through the

Military Accessions Vital to National Interest Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) is a recruitment program by the United States Department of Defense, through which legal non-immigrants (not citizens or legal permanent residents of USA) with certain critical skills are ...

program, Besouw was admitted to United States citizenship directly from her F-1 status in 2014, and she also joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

as a nurse. Besouw said in a 2020 interview that one of the motivating factors behind this decision was for her to avoid

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

to Indonesia.

Personal life

Besouw was married to Frank Piay, a medical doctor from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, from 2008 to 2017, ending in their divorce. In September 2016, Besouw attended the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy. In a November 2016 interview, she expressed her desire to leave the military and return to Manado, citing fatigue. Besouw married James Robert Hall, a US Army veteran, on 21 August 2017. She did not return to Indonesia until 2019, and did not see her father before his death in 2011. Besouw was formerly stationed at

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

in Killeen,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In October 2018, her contract of service with the US Army expired, and she exited active service. From March 2019 to the present day, she has been working as a Registered Nurse at HCA Healthcare in Webster, Texas. From August to November 2020, she was an ICU registered nurse at the Memorial Hermann Health System.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besouw, Kristania Virginia Living people 1985 births People from Manado Indonesian expatriates in the United States People from Colby, Kansas Miss World 2006 delegates