The glitz, the glam and the kids

Over the past weekend, the French International School organised its second annual fashion show event with the goal to support orphans living in Kagera region, Bukoba Municipal.

This year’s event went with the theme ‘Superpowers’ and was organised in collaboration the NGO Partage Tanzania, whose proceeds are channelled to caring for children's education and well-being.

According to the principal of the school, Ms Caroline Mathias the school believes that fashion helps reduce and fight against inequalities, increases love, helps us feel good about ourselves and empowers others.

“Fashion is a culture for the French people all over the world, it is our way of expressing our feelings and supporting others in difficult times in life,” she said.

She shared that the school has students from more than forty-five countries from all over the world and adds: “We strive to improve the environment of poor families, especially orphans, so that they can succeed in the future.”

Marketing and Events Manager for the school, Ms Sandy Daccache shared that the event is here to stay and will continue to run every year because it is part of the school’s efforts to giving back to the society.

“This is to bring back the positive vibes to our society; everyone has the right to be happy and it is the responsibility of each one of us to contribute as much as we can to achieve that,” she says.

She adds: “The second edition has had a greater impact than the first, because even the number of attendees has increased significantly.”

Throughout the school year, the school is committed to supporting the association Partage Tanzania, created by a French doctor in 1990.

The Victoria project of this association, carried out in about twenty villages around Bukoba, offers a global approach which consists in supporting orphaned children within their community, clan or extended family.

This strategy aims to avoid the sending and therefore the isolation of these children in orphanages.

Today, more than 2,500 children are supported by the association in Tanzania.

A team of 165 Tanzanians, 44 percent of whom are women, made up of social workers, agronomists, teachers, nurses and family assistants operate permanently at the village level. This team also includes several former sponsored children who have become adults.

The executive director of the NGO, Mr Phillipe Crynene shared that events like this should be developed in the country so that children can get better education and succeed in the future.

“This event symbolises solidarity and love among all of us, we should help these children get out of a difficult environment so that they can also help others in the future,” he says

The Superheroes Project

Unlike your regular fashion show where designers showcase their creations modelled by the select students, this fashion show brought a unique form of engagement for the kids.

The Superheroes Project saw kids come up with various creations of their own, depicting different superheroes and the unique powers each held.

Split into groups, these workshops produced different families of superheroes and the task on the designers was to work with the kids to bring these visions to life.

The designers on this workshop who worked with the kids include Noor Tribe (Guia), Bilanfacon (Sahra), Shahbaz, Diana Magesa.

Some of the superheroes created were Karos, whose superpower is to control nature and save it; The Pandas Humains, whose super power is being able to eat anything and to deliver the bad guys; The Guardians of Love, whose superpower is making people happy and turning all hate into love; The Super Flames, whose superpower is turning their hearts into fire and then no one can touch them, which is very practical in case of boredom; Les Rigolus Captus (The Jokers), whose superpower is to make people who feel sad or lonely laugh to make them happy.

The Mega Magnus have infinite power and use it to help people; The Super Eagles superpower is flight and The Dreamers have the power to make whatever they want to appear. These are but a portion of all the superheroes the kids and designers were able to create.

During the running of this project, the kids also got to work with Kenyan musician, Fadhili Itulia who is a guitarist ad composer.

Together with the kids, they worked on a song which the kids performed after showcasing the superheroes to show love and solidarity between themselves and children who are in difficult living conditions

“The song was prepared to comfort children in difficult circumstances,” he said. “It was also meant to remind children to support their peers in difficult times of life.”

“There is nothing as basic as being there for someone else, especially when they are going through a difficult time in life and need help from you even when they cannot see you, but you know of their challenges,” he explains.

He shared that the event has been a great lesson for the children because it’s taught them love and concern for people in difficult life situations and the importance of stretching out a helping hand.

“When these children grow up, they would have seen the importance of loving and caring for others and will always live that way because they learnt these values at a young age,” he explains.

He adds: “This event will help the children to see that the nation wishes to have a generation that loves and appreciates others even when they are in difficult times in life, and shows them that it is their responsibility to help them.”

In addition to the superpowers, the event included local and international fashion design brands including, Nsimbi Trends, Asili by naliaka, Diana Magesa, Blackcherry, Milliana, Noortribe, Primus perfect wear, Bilanfacon and Shabaaz Said.

The clothes designed were symbols of love, unity, solidarity, and happiness and returns from clothes and jewellery bought from these designers went to the fundraising campaign. Other funds came from raffle tickets which came with incredible prizes from some of the partners such as Hyatt, Orca Deco, Zalt, AG Energies, White Sands Hotel, Epi d’or, Swarovski, Time Zone and many more.

The models

Aaron Severin, one of the modes said that participating in a big event like this was always his dream as a model, and when given the opportunity, he jumped in without hesitation.

“I think this is a platform that brought together people of all ages, which is very rare in the fashion industry,” he says.

He added: “The best thing is, we have met not only for fashion, we have met to help our colleagues who are in difficult living conditions.”

He also shared that the platform has helped him find a new connection in the fashion market in the country and internationally and he believes it will help him a lot in the future.

“Big brands in the fashion industry have seen me today, and I’ve had the opportunity to speak to some of them about working together and I believe it is the same for other models who participated in this show,” he says.

Sisters, Melissa and Maya Mtui shared their excitement at being able to grace the stage once again.

Also modelling as the star students of their respective groups, they share that their understanding of the event and the funds raised is that the kids who are disadvantaged in life will be able to get a better education.

Model Sophia Shabani says she has hope that the event will help gain international visibility because it has been attended by many people from different countries.

“For me it was a great opportunity to show my talent, especially to people of other nations because I dream of crossing borders. I wish to grow and reach international levels and this is a very good start for me,” she says.

“Everyone who participated in this event will benefit in different ways, there are those of us who got the chance to be seen, there are those who will get help from the funds that will be obtained through this event; this event has been made with love by the organisers,” she explains.

The designers

Fashion designer, Primus Evarist shared that the event has been much bigger this year. The owner of Primus Perfect Wear (PPW), shared that he is most pleased with the children's participation in the event because love is something that a child should be taught from the beginning.

“We have involved the children in today's event with the aim of helping their peers, and they have learned something and these memories won’t be lost,” he says.

“If there are many events like this, children will learn to care more about others and still have plenty of opportunities to showcase their talents in different sectors, especially fashion,” he adds.

It was quite a refreshing turn of events and being able to enjoy one of lifestyle’s core component, fashion. Watching these little ones confidently and fiercely take to the stage was a good reminder that groomed well, kids can pretty much accomplish anything they put their minds to and why not accord every one of them this opportunity, even the disadvantaged ones?