Kids on the catwalk
Sep 07, 2006
Don’t you feel touched when a little child struts down the catwalk and sparkles before the cameras?
By Titus Serunjogi
Don’t you feel touched when a little child struts down the catwalk and sparkles before the cameras? Here is a glimpse into the fabulous lifestyle of our own little darlings featuring on television catwalks and billboards. These kids get paid over half-a-million shillings for their smile to the cameras.
Seven-year-old Hanifa Barbara, a P.2 pupil at Multicare Kindergarten, followed her elder sister into the show business, five years ago. She featured alongside the Obsessions in the United Assurance Company Limited Advert on WBS TV. Many who watched her step on stage at the opening show of Woolworth’s Garden City, would tell she would hit it big on catwalk. She smiled, nodded and spoke to the camera at the drop of a hat. “She has a peculiar liking for crowds,†says Faith Mbabazi, a modeling manager who has been fronting Hanifa into the showbiz world for the past five years. The adorable trait took her shining to the Uganda International Fashion Week where she received loud claps.
But Hanifa’s mother is apprehensive, “There are times when letting my little daughter go for the castings feels like I am losing her forever.â€
However, Sabilla Khan, the mother of the seven year-old fashion model is enthusiastic about her daughter’s venture. “I am proud of my daughter Shazney. She was spotted out to model for the variety show at the Italian Ambassador’s residence. Who knows, Shazney may be on the launch pad for her future career,†she says.
Do not blame the chubby-cheeked twelve year-old Raymond Mutamba for lording it over the boys at Greenhill academy. His adoring schoolmates have been treating him like royalty ever since he appeared on a couple of MTN billboards. After modeling at the Uganda International Fashion Week, one model scout picked him from Chippers’ Ice Cream and had him appear on MTN billboards as a rural child who was flying and running after a toy plane. He has that aplomb and poise of a celebrity. Raymond won’t talk about how much he earns. “It’s more than enough. I buy whatever I need and keep the balance on my bank account.â€
The children have to be selected in auditions to compete for the part. But how does it feel for the child to be rejected again and again for a role? Kids need to grow up being loved and appreciated. A single mother of one nine-year-old who has been consistently thrown out of MTN auditions says, “Rejection always feels harder for me than my daughter who does not seem to
care at all.†This mum is still pushing her child into the show business in the hope of earning money for fees.
Paul Nyende, a community psychologist with Makerere University observes that people in our society stereotype models and view them negatively when they see them in their miniskirts and bikinis. Still, many parents are fascinated by the prospect of the whole city gloating over their child on television or billboards. How well kids mix into showbiz is still open for debate.
Don’t you feel touched when a little child struts down the catwalk and sparkles before the cameras? Here is a glimpse into the fabulous lifestyle of our own little darlings featuring on television catwalks and billboards. These kids get paid over half-a-million shillings for their smile to the cameras.
Seven-year-old Hanifa Barbara, a P.2 pupil at Multicare Kindergarten, followed her elder sister into the show business, five years ago. She featured alongside the Obsessions in the United Assurance Company Limited Advert on WBS TV. Many who watched her step on stage at the opening show of Woolworth’s Garden City, would tell she would hit it big on catwalk. She smiled, nodded and spoke to the camera at the drop of a hat. “She has a peculiar liking for crowds,†says Faith Mbabazi, a modeling manager who has been fronting Hanifa into the showbiz world for the past five years. The adorable trait took her shining to the Uganda International Fashion Week where she received loud claps.
But Hanifa’s mother is apprehensive, “There are times when letting my little daughter go for the castings feels like I am losing her forever.â€
However, Sabilla Khan, the mother of the seven year-old fashion model is enthusiastic about her daughter’s venture. “I am proud of my daughter Shazney. She was spotted out to model for the variety show at the Italian Ambassador’s residence. Who knows, Shazney may be on the launch pad for her future career,†she says.
Do not blame the chubby-cheeked twelve year-old Raymond Mutamba for lording it over the boys at Greenhill academy. His adoring schoolmates have been treating him like royalty ever since he appeared on a couple of MTN billboards. After modeling at the Uganda International Fashion Week, one model scout picked him from Chippers’ Ice Cream and had him appear on MTN billboards as a rural child who was flying and running after a toy plane. He has that aplomb and poise of a celebrity. Raymond won’t talk about how much he earns. “It’s more than enough. I buy whatever I need and keep the balance on my bank account.â€
The children have to be selected in auditions to compete for the part. But how does it feel for the child to be rejected again and again for a role? Kids need to grow up being loved and appreciated. A single mother of one nine-year-old who has been consistently thrown out of MTN auditions says, “Rejection always feels harder for me than my daughter who does not seem to
care at all.†This mum is still pushing her child into the show business in the hope of earning money for fees.
Paul Nyende, a community psychologist with Makerere University observes that people in our society stereotype models and view them negatively when they see them in their miniskirts and bikinis. Still, many parents are fascinated by the prospect of the whole city gloating over their child on television or billboards. How well kids mix into showbiz is still open for debate.