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THE ClU[;EN: Miss UoN (University of Nairobi)Kawira Mugambl was barely noticeable until shewore that basketball outfit. Stay with ZuQ/ca, tolearn more about her as we will feature her on 21Questions,

Zuqka: Where you were bm1l?Kawlra: I was born in Chogoria Hospital,which is just past my hometown Chuka.It is a small, warm, and fat-growingcommunity. I spent the first three yearsof primary school in Sacred Heart GirlsKyeni and when we moved to Nairobi,I eventually settled at Moi EducationalCentre. My high school years were ioter-esting, but I did my KCSE at Brister GirlsHigh School in Juja and upon completionjoined the University of Nairobi, where Iam pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce,majoring in procurement and supplychain management.

~Iow old are you?I am23 years old

When did you join the modelling in-dustry?I joined the modelling industry in 2011when I signed up with an agency calledStrut It Afrika

Do you plan to pursue modelling afterschool?I would definitely love to pursue it if Igot the chance. I, it would be a great op-portunity for me to grow and move on tomuch bigger things and who knows, youmight find me in Europe next year.

Who inspires you in the local modellingindustry?In Kenya one of my tavourite models isAjuma Nasenyana. Her work is amaz-ing and she is so beautiful. FormerMiss World Kenya Susan Anyango is sucha lovely person and great model. I al-so' grew up admiring beauty queens suchas Bidanya 8arasa and Debra Sanaipei.

And Intemationally?Internationally the list is endless but Iwould say Tyra Banks is way at the top,Grace Jones, whose work may be abit controversial, but love her still, Coco

Rocha, Karolina Kurkova, and Miss Divaextraordinaire Kimora Lee Simmons.

What quality do you like most aboutyourself and why?My ability to adapt to just about any situ-ation that life throws my way. I take everymoment as a lesson, make mistakes, learnfrom them, move on, and steer dear ofmaking them again.

What ts the one feature you wouldchange sbout yoursell and why?As much as !am not perfect, Ihavecome to accept who! am ... but you knQw,sometimes, my feet banal So hard towork with. It is hard for a girl to find shoesout here. Not complaining, though. Haha,They ~o serve me well.

What is your definition of success?Success to me means the ability to envi-sian, work relentlessly towards, achieve;maintain, and keep growing in mind anaspirit. If you are able to do all this, then'you have succeeded at each stage. Itshould not have to be defined by matesialgain alone, 'but all-rounded achievement.

If you could change one thing about theWOrld, what would that be?The world is.vast and we are all so dif-ferent but our one uniting factor is thatwe are all human beings. This is also ourgreatest weakness. I hate the fact that wehave so much hatred, war, and negativitytowards each other. Innocent people dieeveryday for the se~ish gain of others. If Icould change anything I would find a wayfor us all to live in peace and to find otherways to solve issues without having to re-sort to wars. We should instead be look-ing after our planet and each other. Thereis so much beauty on earth, if only wewould preserve it! ~

Spoken like a beauty queen. Now, whatbothers you most about what Is happen-

ing in our country today?I love my country but one thing I wouldchange is the fact that we seem to havegotten used to the sight of street familiesand people living in poor conditionswithout access to basic needs. We arenot all able to live lavishly or even dose,so I would urge all those who are luckyenough to have it to help those without.Take a little time to donate, help someoneelse out, and help this person who maynot have had the opportunities that youhad.

If you could be on the cover of any inter-national magazine, which one would itbe and why?Oh Lord, Vogue of course. It is publishedin several languages and is widely sub-scribed to, so many people around theworld read it. I read it as often as I can,sometimes a few months late but it isalways worth the wait. I love the fashionpieces, the editorials. Can you imagineme in a spread for Chanel or Prada.

What is your dream job?My dream job is to own and run my ownprocurement firm and hopefully find alink between entertainment and procure-ment. But for the time being I would loveto be a presenter on an amazing show,hopefully one that involves travelling andmeeting new people. I love adventure,too!

If you were to find your perfect gentle-man, what kind of a man would he be?Well, I believe I have found my perfectgentleman. Haha. He is tall, dark, hand-some, has an amazing personality andis easily one of the kindest people I havemet, is not afraid to step into the kitchenand can cook up a storm, a delicious oneat that, great adviser, easy to talk to, will-ing to help, ambitious, works out; we alllove a man in shape, don't we? And lastbut not least, he is my best friend.

If you were to meet three people in theworld, who would they be and why?First of all, our President, Uhuru Keny~atta. I would love to interview him ona few issues and also get to know theman steering the country. Secondly,Mr Aliko Dangote, business mogul andone of Africa's richest men, to get tipson how to grow an idea into a greatempire. Last but definitely not least,Rihanna. She ha made it big and withgreat style. If she could become mybest friend ... hmmmm (laughs).

If I was to grant you one-wish, whatwould you wish for?I would wish to be the best version ofmyself that Ican be, to succeed in un-imaginable ways!

What do you wish you had Imownbefore?I wish that I had believed in myselfmore when I was younger and takenadvantage of all the opportunities I hadand it would have been nice to not beafraid to take chances. Also I wish I hadknown how many people would try andtake advantage of me in this world, butI handled that quite well.

If you were offered, say, half-a-millionto pose nude} would you do it?Okay, I... umm see what people do notrealise is that nude work can be an art ifdone artistically and well directed. That

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81alone will set it apart from pornogra-phy. But is it for me? No, I am a little shyin that area, even though that half-a-million sounds so goo~.

Do you thinl, professional models inthe country are underpaid?My experience in the modelling industrybefore I joined my agency is that thereare a lot if people exploiting this talentand underpaying models who clearlydeserve more. r think that models couldbe paid better but also one should bewilling to pay well for a well-trained andprofessional model who will deliver. Letus not be stingy now (grinning).

What is the oddest job you have everdone?Maybe not the oddest job but the odd-est thing that I have ever had to doon a job is dance around in a chickenmascot uniform. It was in an episode ofa television drama! act in. It felt ridicu-lous at first but when I found out I wasgoing to have to wear it for three moreepisodes. I soon got my chicken dancemoves in check and had fun with it.

Parting shot?Sometimes the unexpected can turnout to be something worthwhile andincredibly fulfilling, be willing to tryoutnew things and see where that takesyou. It is never easy, but the hardshipsmake you a stronger person.

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