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Reflections from International Miss Tourism pageant
Sheila Kirabo, in simple terms, emerged second at the International Miss Tourism pageant. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa.
“I left Uganda for Malaysia for the event on December 12, 2015. I was only accompanied by Sarah Nyamwenge who is the Miss Uganda Tourism trainer and chaperone. We arrived in the night on December 13.
Nyamwenge went to seek accommodation elsewhere as I went to went to Putrajaya Marriott hotel, Malaysia where the 56 contestants from the other countries had camped.
I found the others in one of the hotel rooms.
Miss India was the first contestant to walk up to me saying, “Wow! You’re tall.” As I settled in, the others also started saying the same thing. At 6ft tall, which is about 183cm, I was the tallest contestant.
I had been a little anxious about how I was going to be treated but I found it easy to relate with the other girls. My bubbly personality seemed to attract majority of the girls to me.
The other girls were also curious about Uganda, asking about the tourism attractions, and I would tell them about gorillas, among other things. The pageant normally held numerous activities including fashion shows.
It was in such events that some winners would get picked. That was how I even ended up as Miss Joyful KLIA (Kua Lumpur International Airport. I was elected winner because of my friendly nature.
Close and complex friends
I was mostly close to Miss Swaziland because she was bubbly too. The contestant from Philippines was another close friend. She behaved like a real lady, loved sharing ideas and often boosted my morale.
The contestants from Georgia and Poland were the only ones I failed to connect with because they had complicated personalities.
Other than that, I never felt homesick because people from home often called to encourage and check on me. We had visitation hours where individuals would come and see a contestant they wanted, strictly with permission from the organisers.
Food and wardrobe
We were mainly served spicy and sea food. Since it was not really my favourite, I instead kept eating cakes and fruits provided by the hotel.
I carried my own clothes. Some of the outfits such as the gowns were provided by Tinah Brad, a stylist here in Uganda.
Ramona, a friend, gave me the one I wore at the finale. My national costume which symbolised the crested crane was made by my other group of friends.
The Eve and finale day
We had a prejudging session, a day before the finale where we faced a panel of six judges.
Each contestant walked into a room, alone, and faced them. One of the questions they asked me was why I was the only girl calling myself an ambassador.
My response was that every girl who has participated in a tourism pageant is usually given that title. The other things they asked were the unique aspects about my country, among other things. I made sure to respond with confidence.
On the day of the finale, all of us went on stage. The judges cut the number from 57 to 12. The criteria they based on were the responses we gave the previous day during the prejudging session. I managed to make it to 12.
From there, they asked us a question, which was, what unique benefits can an international pageant bring to our respective countries?
I responded that International pageants are big platforms for ladies to use their beauty to market countries.
In addition, I stated that since I was in Malaysia, I would post photographs of some of the tourism destinations in the country and share them on different social media platforms. By doing that, it would be a way of marketing and boosting tourism.
The cheering from the crowd was massive. I was in utter shock when my name and country was called Miss Tourism Metropolitan International which automatically made me the first runner-up. It was unbelievable. The win has not really hit me yet. I am still digesting it.
Anyway, Leren Mae Bautista (Philippines) was crowned the overall winner. She is Miss Tourism Queen of the year International.
Privileges that come with the titles
I was given a cash prize, a scholarship to study in Malaysia and various presents including cosmetics. There are other contracts which I shall be signing in due course.
Then, as Miss Joyful KLIA, I will be the face of Malaysia’s main international airport this year.
Kirabo is also Miss Tourism-Ankole and last year’s second-runner up at the Miss Tourism Uganda finals.
The winners
•Miss Tourism Queen of the Year, 2015/16: Leren Mae Bautista (Philippines)
•First runner-up/ Miss Tourism Metropolitan International: Sheila Kirabo (Uganda)
•Second runner-up/ Miss Tourism Global International: Irmina Presegalavicute (Lithuania)
•Third runner-up / Miss Tourism Cosmopolitan International: Tanja Asthorstoddir (Iceland)
• Fourth runner-up/ Dream Girl of the Year International: Chandni Sharma (India)
