From Austria, Hungary with lessons
The country’s beauty queen Cecilia Khofi is one busy lady. In the past three weeks, she was carrying the Malawi flag in two European countries of Austria and Hungary where she fulfilled a number of official engagements in her capacity as Miss Malawi. Among other things, she gave motivational talks on hard work in education. She also had two official photo shoots. Our Arts Editor EDITH GONDWE met with the beauty queen on her return back home to hear more about her experience in the foreign land:
Q
: I assume this was your first international trip as the country’s beauty queen. How was the experience?
A
: That’s right. It was a great experience. I had a very hectic schedule, I had to move around a lot for I had several assignments in different cities such as giving presentations in schools, photoshoots, meetings, attending a photo exhibition, among other programmes. However, I still had time to move around and see the beauty of the two countries and I enjoyed every part of it, I admire the beauty of both countries. During the three weeks, I felt welcomed and taken care of, I was very appreciated and the number of fans I had was tremendous. They made my stay so special.
Q
: While in Hungary and Austria you visited several schools where you gave talks, What was the themeof your talks?
A
: I always have my country at heart; hence, in my presentations, I talked about Malawi, its location, its tourism side—the beautiful Lake Malawi and game reserves and our culture. I also centred my talk on education. I used my life story, my struggles and my achievements as a point of inspiration and motivation for the youth to go further with their education and succeed in life. I also taught the youth how Miss Malawi beauty pageant is like with its motto Beauty With A Purpose and its theme Reducing Rapid Population Growth.
Q
: We saw some beautiful pictures of you taken in Hungary. Tell us more about the photo shoot. Who was the photographer and who designed the outfits?
A
: I had two photo shoots while in Hungary, of which one was in the capital of Hungary-Budapest. There, I was dressed by one of the famous fashion companies called Puibella fashion and the photographer was Victor Sabo. My second shoot was in a beautiful castle in a city called Mandok where I was dressed by one of the greatest designers in Hungary called Rabosci, and my pictures were taken by Janics Attila, who is a professional photographer.
Q
: Do people in Hungary know about Malawi?
A
: Sadly, not a lot of people there know about Malawi. Thanks to African-Hungarian Union and Planetrise Associate, some people are knowledgeable about Malawi through the different missions they have in Malawi. However, I was happy that I had a lot of opportunities to tell a lot of people about Malawi through TV stations, newspapers, radio stations and face to face. Alot of people I talked to found Malawi to be beautiful and would love to visit.
Q
: What lessons have you brought from the trip?
A
: In both countries celebrities, including beauty queens, are appreciated and supported to reach their full potential. While I was there, I was so much appreciated as a beauty queen and was well acknowledged for my hard work and intelligence. It is very vital that Malawi appreciates and supports the celebrities we have including beauty queens. n
