It’s a beauty pageant, not a fashion show. A lady who did not agree with people criticising the slow catwalk during the recently concluded Miss Rwanda 2015 finale at Kigali Serena Hotel remarked. 

But for Sabrina Simbi who trained the 15 finalists on how to do the catwalk during a two-week boot camp at Lake Kivu Serena hotel, the catwalk was perfect. Simbi was also the choreographer of the contestants.

"People are used to seeing models walking fast on the runway and they expect beauty queens to walk the same way. A model showcases fashionable clothes while a beauty queen is showcasing beauty and elegance. If a beauty queen moves fast on the runway, she doesn’t give the judge and the audience sufficient time to appreciate her beauty. An elegant walk is not a fast one,” Simbi says.

Simbi has participated in a couple of beauty pageants including Miss East Africa Belgium in 2011.

"Since the theme for Miss Rwanda 2015 was "Beauty, Brain and Culture”, it’s important to know that the girls could not walk very fast when showcasing the cultural regalia. In our culture a girl is expected to walk in a calm manner with elegance,” Simbi explains.

Dieudonné Ishimwe, the Managing Director of Rwanda Inspiration Backup and the project manager for Miss Rwanda, describes Simbi as an intelligent young woman played a key role preparing the girls for what turned out to be the most successful pageant in the history of Miss Rwanda.

"She is a good coach given her experience in beauty pageants. If one has an interest in what they do, they perfect it and enjoy it. Simbi was warm with the girls and they felt she was a sister to them. The girls learnt a lot from her and that will help them excel in whatever they do in the future,” Ishimwe says.

According to Vanessa Raissa Uwase, the first runner up Miss Rwanda 2015, Simbi is a down to earth and selfless person.

"I learnt a lot from Sabrina. During the two weeks we spent with her in boot camp, she showed me that she is a focused and hardworking person. She has the desire and spirit to see other people excel and achieve their dreams,” Uwase says.

Simbi was born in Rwanda but fled with her family to Belgium during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi when she was just five years old.

The 26-year-old studied in Belgium where she majored in Political Science and Communication. She also attained a Master’s degree in Business Management from Université Saint-Louis (USLB) in Brussels, Belgium.

"I first attained a Bachelor’s degree before I participated in any beauty contest. My mother encouraged me to participate in Miss East Africa Belgium in 2011. We were out with her when some people handed us flyers that called on people to participate in the contest. At first I told her I wouldn’t take part in the contest because I was very shy and scared with no experience whatsoever,” Simbi recalls.

She adds: "My mother was very persuasive so I later applied for the contest and luckily, I was crowned third runner up. My third runner up position opened doors for me and I also participated in Miss Supranational Rwanda in Belgium and emerged the first runner up. Later, I went ahead to take part in the international Miss Supranational contest in 2012 held in Poland where I walked away as Miss Personality.”

Simbi continued on her path to a beauty queen status; she later participated in the 2012 Miss East Africa that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where she made it to the top ten.

Because of her passion for beauty pageants, together with her mother, last year she organised a beauty pageant in Belgium dubbed "Umwali Belgium - Tradition Rwandaise.

"It was during this contest that I started coaching girls on how to catwalk basing on the trainings I attained during the various beauty pageant boot camps I participated in,” Simbi says.

Simbi says that even though she participated in a number of pageants, she still gets nervous.

"When I started participating in beauty contests, my greatest challenge was smiling. I didn’t see why I had to smile for the sake of it. The catwalk was not hard since I grew up wearing high heels. I had also done some modelling,” Simbi says.

Asked about the one thing she misses about taking part in beauty contests, she says, "I always loved and enjoyed expressing myself and telling people my views. The fact that thousands of people were eager to listen to what I had to say was great. I also miss inspiring other girls and being an ambassador for my country.”

Simbi’s mother, Jeanine Collet, says that she let her daughter participate in beauty pageants after completing school.

"I was happy that she had excelled in school. She actually attained a first class for her Bachelor’s degree. With such an achievement, there was no way I would not support her in whatever ventures she wanted to take on,” she says.

Although Collet lives in Belgium and comes to Rwanda a few times in the year, this time round, she came specifically to watch Simbi train the contestants for Miss Rwanda 2015.

doreen.umutesi@newtimes.co.rw