Miss Tourism Ghana UK

So after a very busy and hectic July, I was given a 2 week well deserve break. On my first day back, was I lucky enough to receive an invite to the crowning of the Miss Ghana Toursim UK 2014!!

It was by the river themes, the view was breathtaking, almost as amazing as the girls taking part in the pageant. 

It was a brilliant night, like always Ghanaian hospitality at a 100, I got to share a table with the Queens of 2012, who were great company throughout night, very cheeky lovely ladies who pulled out of my seat to shake a little bit leg to some great Ghanaian tunes. It was just a beautiful night, with great performances. 

Before I continue, let me just state how hard it is to remain Queen-like and seated when MrSilva is performing, I just wanted to get up out of my seat and dance, but unfortunately I couldn't. 

All the girls were absolutely incredible, beautiful and proud to Ghanaian. Now what makes Miss Ghana Tourism different, is that it promotes Tourism in Ghana, so what the girls had to do was sell Ghana and the different regions, cultures and food that make up Ghana. 

And I was sold, the second I get the opportunity I will be on a plane to Ghana very soon. They excited me, intrigued me and eventually convinced me that after my holiday to Congo, Ghana is the place to be. 

The competition was TOUGH, but the best girl always wins so a big well done to Miss Helen Ansah Miss Ghana Tourism UK, Miss Deborah Darling the first princess and the adorable Miss Sandy Asante  the second princess. 

All the best love Miss Congo UK

Summer Shoot

How best to end a very busy July? Have summer shoot duhh!!

Last weekend Leonne and I had such fun doing this shoot, for Roseline Cibwabwa Collection, another Congolese designer on the rise, so do watch for her. It was long, hot sticky day, but fabulous, sassy and 100% Congolese. Thank you to the management team Pauline and Gloria for organising and styling the shoot, another big thank you to the beautiful full of life and very talented Dion Gray who did my make up, and last but not least Eva Klimekova our stunning photographer on the day

A big well done and pat on the back for everyone involved. I hope you guys like the pictures love love Miss Congo 

Spotlight TV

A couple of weeks back, I went up to Birmingham with my management team to do a interview with SpotlightProgressTV. I had a BLAST, (as most of you who follow my instagram probably noticed) it was such a great day, despite traveling half of the country most of day. But the sun was out, everyone was in good spirits, and the interview run smoothly it was great. I met some amazing people doing great things for the community up there, I do hope to return very soon. But in the meantime loads of kisses to  the whole Congolese community in Birmingham City Love love you  Miss Congo. 

Below is the link to the interview on myself Miss Congo, conducted by SpotlightProgress TV.

Miss Congo in Birmingham with SpotlightPorgressTV

Happy ANNIVERSARY

Today marks a year since the very night I was crowned Miss Congo UK.

It has been a roller-coaster to say the least, i have met some extraordinary people and have been places and achieved things I never thought I would achieved. I'm living a life (not the high life do not be fooled) that I never imagined myself living, with a great friend almost a sister by my side every step of the way (I love you Leonne). This time a year ago, I was preparing and stressing about my poem, making sure it was just right, to convey the message that I wanted to convey. I did want to win Miss Congo when I entered, but to be completely honest with you  I really didn't think I would, this time last year I was almost certain that I wouldn't; which goes to show, that G-d puts in our path what we are destined to experience to shape the person we are to later become. Not for one second would I take it back, all that I have learnt and seen, having said that, it has not been easy, being a Queen is not easy, words cannot describe the difficulties Leonne and I had to face, both together and on our own. The sacrifices made to for us to be where are right now.

What made everything worthwhile, is the feedback that we have got, the people that know of us, especially the love that we get from our community, which nothing else can compare to. With G-d by our side we will continue, making sure that Congo presence here in the diaspora is felt. 

I am proud  to be Congolese, everywhere I go, it is also the name of the poem I performed in the talent round of Miss Congo, which contributed a great deal to my crowning. It was not a winning poem until I won, and even till today I still do not consider it as so, it my poem about my country, and my pride to be from the country I am from. It is this pride for the motherland, that drives me to continue to do what I do, and to some day achieve my greater dreams within myself and the country that made me who I am.

20th July 2013 

one of the best nights of my life.

My nightmares and fears of many things dissolves in love. 

Love for myself (which took a while)

Love for my family and friends who supported me 

Love for my community 

Love for my place of peace, connection, joy and motivation 

My Country 

CONGO

In case the link don't work

Leonne is on FIRE

This July, was a special one, not only was Leonne's Birthday month, but Leonne's take over the world month. Doing a shoot for both AX Paris and the OffTheHook Magazine, my girl is unstoppable this summer and this is only the beginning!!!

Here are some of the incredible pictures taken from both shoot, with Leonne doing her thing like always, looking flawless and representing true Congolese beauty.

I am so so proud of her, she is doing well and is going to go on to do bigger things. So watch out for Miss Leonne. Well Done Yaya…on fire like always xx

Happy Birthday LEONNEEEEEEE

Happy Birthday to the most beautiful, caring, supporting, funny, amazing, incredible…I cannot think of enough words to describe Miss Leonne.

Thank you for always being there fore me, always keeping me sane, always making me laugh and motivating me when times got really hard. G-d loves you, your family loves you, I love you, you are such a beautiful person inside and out and you are inspiration to not only myself but many young girls in the UK and in Congo. With the lovely heart and soul in which you have you will go so far, with everyone in your path falling in love with the electric and yet calming welcoming energy that encompasses you. G-d bless you my sweetheart, all the kisses in the world 

Kevine 

Congo 54th Independence Party

Last weekend was one of the biggest night in the Congolese community calendar, Disk&Jockey Independence Party. It was great, I had such a good time, Miss Leonne left early because she had such a busy day having had done a shoot for AX Paris earlier on that day which I will post about very soon, however like a true Queen she came out to support her community.

With DJ's such as Afro-B, Neptizzle, and Lil Cee as well as performances from Sonaman, BM, Moelogo and my favvv LDNC!!! Not to mention, Congo's darling and our amazing host for the night Mr.  Eddie Kadi.
It was such a good night, I love it, my favourite moment was the throwback to Congolese songs from my childhood.

It was so refreshing, to be in a club environment where there was Congolese music playing OMG it was amazing!! Just hearing songs such as Loi, and seeing so many young Congolese people just myself enjoying themselves and indulging in the childhood memories and their culture at that same time, was so lovely and uplifting.

I met some incredible people, we did an interview with Nissy-Tee, it was so nice meeting her, she is such a lovely soul, her energy is just amazing. I'm so proud of her, and many of the other young people I had met that night, because they are doing something, they are going places, they are chasing, they are achieving at the same time they are proud to be Congolese. That is something urge for all of you to do.

The energy in that room was electrifying, everyone was having fun in style of course, because you know the Congolese only ever dress to impress and no less. Talking about dressing, here are the lovely gowns that Maman Flora made for Leonne and I.

Well Done to Disk&Jockey for another great night. Again Happy Independence x

Maman Flora By Grace

This women, is beyond incredible. She has supported Miss Congo UK since before I crowned. She is so talented, so patient, so caring, so lovely, just absolutely amazing. Leonne and I are so lucky and happy to have Maman Flora in our lives.

Maman Flora by Grace is a designer, she designs and creates her dress pieces by herself, she will be making the dresses Leonne and I will be wearing on 5th July for Disk&Jockey Independence Party.


Her work is out of this world, as I have already mentioned, she is able to make and finish a piece in under 45mins. In fact the sparkling blue dress that Leonne wore on the night of Miss Congo last year, was made in no time at all, and it turned out to be absolutely stunning; one of the best pieces in that collection. She is also the delicate hands behind the creation of beautiful wedding dresses that we had worn for Miss Congo summer shoot with Eddie Kadi last summer. She also helped us with cute pieces that we had worn for the Independence Video last week, and as I mentioned before watch out for our show stopping gowns that we will be showcasing at Congo 54 Independence Party.

Maman Flora's work ethic, is inspiring to say the very least, this women will not sleep until the pieces of all clients are completed; if it means sleeping at work, she will do so, she gives 110% to everyone, every single time.
She deserve an award, world wide recognition, I cannot explain how amazing she is, and how incredibly lucky I am as a Queen to have a designer that treats me, not only like a client but as her own daughter.

She's inspiring in more ways that one, she so caring and truthful, she brings me back to the reason I did Miss Congo, she motivates me, reconnects me. I love her and I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Thank you Maman Flora in Camden lots of love 

Happy 54th Independence Congo

Today is an exciting day, my country, my motherland is celebrating another year of independence.

The 54th year. 

Many would say that in actuality we are a very far cry from independence, which is very truth; as a country we have a lot of work to do, but before that as community we have a lot of work, but even before this you as an individual have a lot of work to do. It all comes down to education.

Knowledge is Power 

The world looks at statistics and GDP's to measure the worth of a country, the land, the people. However, I personally do not think that there is any economical report or journal that could capture the truth of Congo, and what it is about.

People have their conceptions about the Congo, people have their concerns and opinions, and that, is inevitable. But what I would urge every and any Congolese child whether here in the UK, or elsewhere, is to find out for yourself more about where it is you come from, your story and your history; in doing this, you will have a clearer understanding of where in society you stand and where you are going.
Take your time in reading about Congo's discovery, and the unfolding of her story from that moment, till now. Congo is such a rich country in itself, and it is even richer in what produces and what it could potentially offer if in the right hands.
So enrich yourself, if you are proud to be Congolese, don't just be proud of her, honour her by taking the time to educate yourself about her. You never know, you may be those right hands to catapult Congo into the realm she and her people deserve to be in.

See Congo through a perspective constructed by yourself, through what you read, through what your own mind has absorbed, not what the whole entire world tell you.

Personally, I am more than proud to be from the country; its a blessing to me to be bought up in this vibrate, electric and rich culture of my country. Its feeling that I cannot explain it, and its a part of me I would never change. I am proud to be Congolese, and every Congolese person in the world should be to, if their is any reason you aren't proud, then you haven't read enough, google it, pick up a book, just read…

In the meantime

Without keeping you any longer Miss Leonne and I want to wish you Happy Independence Day x

Happy Independence Day Love Miss Congo UK 

Positive pageants & Race For Life

Hiya everyone, I know I have been gone for a while, but that’s because my life had been taken over by exams and coursework deadlines. But now that is all done, I could update you all on what I as well as Miss Leonne have been up to for the past couple of months.

Over the month of May, Leonne and I were welcomed into the most beautiful sisterhood that pageantry has ever seen; our paths crossed with beautiful Queens named Miss Layia, Miss Michelle and Miss Miriam. All three of them took part in last years Miss Jamaica UK, each of whom came away with a deserving title, since then together they had created ‘Positive Pageants’.

Positive Pageants was created to showcase that Beauty Queens do more than just look pretty, to give back to the community and be an inspiration to young girls on platforms other than beauty.

The first mission that Loenne and I were involved in was RaceForLife, which I will tell you more about later on in the post. Through out May we had been campaigning, getting people to support and sponsor the course, and one of our stops was Mystic Radio, where we met the lovely charismatic presenter Juvenile (absolutely bursting with energy that Saturday afternoon), as well as the rest of the girls, which was nice experience. We were one of the first to enter the Mystic Radio new studio, where we got a bit carried away and had a mini photo shoot: we took group pictures of, the positive pageant girls together as well as an incredible amount of selfies.  

It was a very positive start, everyone had so much incredible energy it was just good vibes all round, we had a lot of laughs you wouldn’t have thought that most of us had just met for the first time that day. That same energy and vibes was maximised on the day of the 31^st May, the day of the actual race itself, everyone was in good spirits, excited to do the race, make a difference, join the fight against cancer and that’s exactly what we did.

I finished the race in 56mins, I walked most of it, I will tell you now I am not a runner, I don’t do running, but RaceForLife was not too bad, 5k as terrifying as it may sound its not too bad at all. It is defiantly a runnable distance; anyone could do it, especially if it is for a course as important as cancer. During the race I encountered a number of people who had been directly affected by cancer, which kept me going, kept me running (though I hate running with every ounce of being within me) till the finishing line.

Cancer is a horrible experience for anyone to meet in his or her lives, by either being directly affected, or watching a family member, or a friend going through it. I hope that the effort the positive pageants girls and myself, contribute to the very much needed research to finding the cure to this horrific disease, that has taken the lives of so many people and have left a void in so many families. 

If you are in anyway affected by cancer, there are a number of helplines available that, offer support and advice, or just a listening ear when you are feeling overwhelmed by the whole ordeal.

Cancer research themselves do offer a helpline that does just that, so anytime you need help or supportive ear, do not hold off from picking up the phone. Dial the number below

0808 800 40 40

And for those affected by cancer, in one way or another, from myself Miss Congo UK and the rest of the Positive Pageants team, you’re not alone in your fight and no matter how hard things get, you WILL  get through it.

P.S there is still a chance for you at home reading this to make a difference, the positive pageants girls and I will be extremely grateful for the any donations made; does not matter how small, you will be changing someone’s life.

www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/positive-pageants

London Fashion Week

I had been so excited for this week, and again I got another opportunity to work with Reuben P Joseph.   Boy LFW shows are stressful, it was an amazing experience but it was so stressful. I learnt so much, and met so many incredible models, designers, especially my favourite sophisticated attire designer Mr Kwame Koranteng Bespoke. I was also extremely lucky to be chosen to walk his exclusive women's collection. Mr Koranteng Bespoke was later feature in the no other magazine than Vogue, so proud and further blessed to have worked with such an incredibly talented and humble man.

Reuben put on two shows, Miss Leonne was unable to attend the first show, but she was at the second show which I weren't able to attend. So on both day Miss Congo was represented, with Miss Congo 2012 Sandrah G-e before she jetted off the Paris, fro Paris Fashion Week (told you, conquering the business she is).

Here are some pictures from both nights.

Kimiya, Elikia, Bolingo x

Miss Kevine 

Kwame Koranteng Bespoke