Rattling noise from knives and forks welcome you to the big dining area at the Lake Kivu Serena Hotel. Beautiful faces of Miss Rwanda contestants light up the beautiful scenery of the state-of-the-art hotel which is hosting the Miss Rwanda 2015 boot camp.
Rattling noise from knives and forks welcome you to the big dining area at the Lake Kivu Serena Hotel. Beautiful faces of Miss Rwanda contestants light up the beautiful scenery of the state-of-the-art hotel which is hosting the Miss Rwanda 2015 boot camp.
Miss Rwanda 2015: Daily life in the boot camp for 15 finalists. Source: The New Times/YouTube
The girls are cut off from the world. They can’t communicate to anyone outside the boot camp and their phones are kept far away.
The girls are also on a special diet. I am later told by the team manager, Aline Gahongayire that the special diet is to make sure the girls watch their weight.
The 15 girls have been here for one week. Their stay has been nothing short of amazing, notwithstanding the rigorous training they go through on a daily basis.
The girls wake up as early at 5:30am to prepare for the morning drills-which consist of jogging and working out in the gym. After grueling sessions of weight lifting, running on the mill and stretches, they head back to their rooms and freshen up before having breakfast.
Moments later, dressed in pink Miss Rwanda t-shirts, jeans and high heels, they saunter to the dining room for breakfast.
As they have breakfast, they crack jokes and tease each other amidst bouts of laughter. However, that lasts for only a few minutes and they are off to class. The class sessions range from lectures on public speaking, stage presentation, catwalk and issues that affect women in society.
For the two days I have been with the girls, they have bonded and shared intimate personal stories including dedicating a full session to share their most painful experiences.
Their public speaking skills have improved. Jean Michel Habineza one of the trainers, says most of the girls have overcome stage fright and perfected the catwalk.
Former Rwandan representative at the Miss Supranational and Miss East African Sabrina Simbi, who has been taking the girls through catwalk sessions also chips in with an equally encouraging report.
She says the girls have perfected the cat walk. This is not surprising given the grueling practice. The girls walk on a small piece of wood while balancing an apple placed on a book on top of the head; they even walk on the same piece of wood blind folded. All this is done to ensure the girls perfect the catwalk.
The highlight of my two-day visit to the boot camp is when the contestants get back their phones on Saturday to talk to their loved ones for the first time since they entered the boot camp. Emotions were high; tears and laughter filled the air. They also let loose on Saturday when they were given time to dance and let the steam off.
By the time I left the camp on Sunday, the girls were in an upbeat mood and ready for the grand finale on Saturday February 21. From my observation, the finale shouldn’t be less than ecstatic. The girls are hot and ready. All the girls are good, but may the best girl win come Saturday.