Mavuno Yetu brings east Africa together

LEFT: Miss Uganda Stellah Nantumbwe models a dress by Tanzanian designer Mustafa Hassanali. RIGHT: Model Winnie Lalani and fashion designer Santa Anzo on the runway.

Beauty, food, fashion and culture shared space at the recent Mavuno Yetu’s social celebrations at Lake Victoria Serena Resort in Lweza, off Entebbe road.
Walking into a venue that is bubbly was every guest’s antidote for boredom. On the serving tables were pots steaming with a sweet aroma, which was welcoming broth for guests who were eager to taste foods from the East African region.

Well, we all hear the line ‘beauty with a purpose’ at beauty pageants. At Mavuno Yetu, which by the way stands for ‘our harvests, rewards and gains’, the beauty queens in the region brought this out.

Miss Uganda Stellah Nantumbwe, Miss Tanzania Happiness Watimanywa and Miss Kenya Wangui Gitonga, joined the chefs from Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar, in the kitchen, to prepare a fusion of coastal and inland meals. Guests savoured delicacies and were also served a wide array of local brews from the region.

And as the food found its way into guests’ mouths and settled into stomachs, legendary Afrigo band serenaded them, complimenting the moment with their all-time classics to which old folks and young alike sang along. There were also cultural troupes performing.

But the icing on the cake was the showcases by top fashion designers Santa Anzo of Arapapa and Mustafa Hassanali, Tanzania’s top designer.
Arapapa’s collection was dubbed ‘The East African Lifestyle’ as she explained was conceptualised a few years back from the communities of region; the Karamojong, the Turkana & Masai.

Mustafa, one other hand used showcased a fusion of Swahili and Arabian attires.
“Mavuno Yetu is now a brand that is recognisable and has sealed its place on the national social calendar of Uganda, and East Africa at large. South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi have promised to make their mark come 2014,” Anzo, one of the organisers explained.

Mavuno Yetu is an idea that was conceptualised by the management of Lake Victoria Serena Resort in your 2011, and started as a theme for their annual East African festivities.