WHAT DEFINES AND INSPIRES ME

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” These are the words which my mom exhaled during my early years of secondary school. At first, I could not perceive with acuity what this array of terms meant. I have been intrigued by many things as a student- I savored knowledge even if its purpose was not in sync with my dreams. I have faced tremendous obstacles and challenges in my education. But all of these have served the purpose of inspiring me and defining who I want to become.

FONGWA KESTEN NGUM WALKING DOWN THE AISLE

REPRESENTING CAMEROON AT MISS PANAFRICAN QUEEN 2018

Pictures of my elder sister- Fongwa Kesten Ngum- modelling with embellished clothing down the aisle helped me a lot in visualizing my dreams. Within a blink of time after my sister’s first modelling competition I realized that styling and fashion blogging were in phase with my aspirations. Thankfully, I was always at the forefront to assess the clothes my sister wore on stage. I would consistently touch the textile to feel it, or walk my hand through-inside-out to feel the rigidity/elasticity of the fabric, and the splendor that characterized its creation. These small and unambiguous actions revealed to me how much I loved fashion and how intrigued I was by designs.

Cognizant of my inspiration at such a tender age set a pace for me. I didn't only envision growing a designing business of my own, but also made plans on how to acquire the skills required to run such an undertaking. I took off with creating an extensive network of friends which I used for preliminary research. I probed into their difficulties, their likes and dislikes, their various natures and most importantly, how they reacted to fashion and designing. I also learnt how to make-up, blend and saturate colours, and when to lessen their effects from Ngong Marie Claire popularly known as "Chiwawa". This all paid off really well.

NGONG MARIE CLAIRE

I also maintained communication with my role model sister, to update me on trends in the fashion industry. Armed with this knowledge, I analyzed at every step, the kind of fashion blogger I wanted to become. My designs which I had carefully raveled out from earlier models helped me to generate a scheme on how I could portray my designs. This really paid off for me.

MUMMY AND HER GIRLS

Despite the numerous challenges rooting from a single parenthood and my education, I am even more resilient to bring forth the change that my continent needs. As charity begins at home, I hope to engage in designs that portray westernization to those of Africanism, to embellish the African culture in designs and to improve on the lives of many who seek direction in Cameroon.