| A woman of all trades | Send to a friend |
| Saturday, 11 February 2012 11:51 |
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Basila Mwanukuzi is best known for winning the crown of Miss Tanzania in 1998 and representing Tanzania in the Miss World contest that was held on Mahe Island in the Seychelles. The beauty queen who was born in 1978 says that being Miss Tanzania opened doors for her to broaden her worldview and encounter new opportunities. “The moment you are crowned your life changes completely. Suddenly you have a platform to meet influential people,” Basila says. The genesis of a beautiful journey Her journey began back in 1996 soon after she completed high school at Shaban Robert Secondary School. “It all started with the Faces International fashion shows. A friend - Miriam Odemba - who convinced me to accompany her to the shows encouraged me to try my luck. I had never any interest in beauty competitions,” she says. Basila who is also a mother to eleven-month-old Patrick Nubi says that she entered the Faces International competition because she figured it would keep her busy after high school, but it wasn’t something she had ever wanted to do. It was after she had started walking the runway for Faces International that the opportunity to try out for Miss Tanzania arose. “Friends and acquaintances advised me to compete because they felt that I had what it takes to be crowned.” But her mother was reluctant because she felt that pageants were just a means to get girls into prostitution – at the time, this was a commonly held belief. “So at first Mum said no but on the day of the competition, she changed her mind and said yes. It had never been a goal of mine to participate in a beauty contest, but the grand prize was tempting. If I won, I would go to the US to represent Tanzania.” Basila went on to win the competition but the whole thing turned out to be a con and the organisers did not keep their side of the bargain. “My mother – strong woman that she is – took them to court to try and force them to meet their obligations. It took a while but finally the court ordered them to pay out the amount of money they would have spent to buy my air ticket to the US and some money in damages. I get my strong spirit from my mother. She has directed me in the right path and taught me how to overcome challenges.” After that, Basila went on to enter and win the official Miss Tanzania competition in 1998. There’s more to life than pageants One other thing that Basila inherited from her mother is focus. Since she was a little girl, she had always dreamed of owning a salon. The chance to see her dream come true came while she was working for the UN as an IT expert in South Africa. She had landed the job after reading for a degree in information technology at the London Metropolitan University. “In South Africa I was the kind of person who never wanted to hang out. I didn’t spend much time outside the house because some South Africans are racist. I spent most of my extra time at home.” Luckily for her, a year later she was posted to Addis Ababa where she remained for two years. But while in South Africa, she had taken action to expand her skill set beyond information technology. “I decided to take a hair and beauty course and when I finally came back home I opened a modern salon called The Look Unisex on Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road in Kijitonyama. The salon is in the same compound as my house so I get to spend a lot of time with my son. Children need their parents to be around, especially when they are young,” the former beauty queen says. The beauty industry Speaking about beauty competitions in Tanzania, Basila says that things are evolving, as parents now understand that pageantry is not prostitution. “Things have changed. You can’t compare our days with these modern times. One thing that is different nowadays however, is the frequency with which contestants become embroiled in big scandals. That fact alone might kill trust among parents,” she says. “When one is crowned Miss Tanzania it is a big honour and it is important for one to respect the crown and realise that instantly one becomes a role model. Being Miss Tanzania means that one should also think of other people as we are also living for others. Doing things which harm your reputation will harm those who look up to you as well,” she says. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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