Today’s interview is with the lovely Kiah Bajinka. Kiah is Miss Natural Beauty Queen of the Year. Kiah works exceptionally hard with her charity work, and you can find out a little bit more about her down below!
Thank you so much for talking to me today! How did your pageant journey begin? This wasn’t the first pageant that you competed in? No, so my sister started pageants first and I thought that they looked really good and they were really boosting her confidence, so I decided to do one and then just got addicted.
It’s the pageant bug isn’t it! Everyone gets it. So what has pageantry taught you? I’ve learnt lots of key skills like confidence and communication skills. I’ve also learnt that it’s a family, and it’s not what you see in like Toddlers and Tiaras, it’s really different. You have to explain to people the charity work and the interviews and the other stuff that comes along with it.
You’ve had a busy year! What have you got up to as a Queen? Obviously you went to Internationals, tell me more! I’ve been making appearances up and down the UK and I have also been to Africa, where I went to Gambia and I did some appearances there. I’ve also done some charity work and been raising money for Giddo’s Gift and just raising awareness.
So you touched on going to Gambia, what did you get up to? We went to see a pharmacy in my Dad’s old village to see the conditions of it and we saw how it was run down. We also started to get some awareness about that. We went to a school and saw the teachers and how low paid they are, and we went to the Independence Day. You see how privileged we are living here, and it may not seem like that, but compared to other countries we are.
What did you get up to at Internationals? We had a lot of fun! There were lots of activities going on, and there was never a dull day. Everyone was always jumping in the pool, it was just really fun. We did national wear, evening and fashion. We had a Hawaiian night on the first night, where we had the chance to meet up with all the contestants. Some of them we had met at other appearances but obviously some who couldn’t travel as far from Scotland and Wales we didn’t meet, but we just got to meet everyone and make friends.
Who is your pageant inspiration? I can’t choose one inspiration, all the girls inspire me because of how much community work and how hard working they all are.
Do you have a platform or a charity that you support? I’m currently fundraising for Giddo’s Gift which is the charity for Natural Beauty.
What has been your favourite appearance so far? My favourite appearance so far was when we were in Gambia and we went to the school. We got to see the conditions of the school classrooms and the outside and we got to see the teacher. It was an eye opener to how things are over there.
What is your favourite round to compete in? My favourite round is national wear or the all about me rounds. Anything where I can express myself.
And finally, do you have any advice for someone that wants to compete but might be a bit scared? I think they should just go for it. It will come naturally and everyone will be there to support them because that is the pageant community. We just all chip in to help people.
Pageant Diaries with Georgia 