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Irene Sidede ’16 heard about UT from a friend. She liked that it was private and small and that the weather would be similar to her home. She wasn’t able to visit in person, so when her freshman semester rolled around, she boarded a plane and flew by herself to Tampa — her first time in the U.S. She got a taxi to take her to campus, where she’d, for the first time, be on her own.

“I had always thought of myself being in the U.S.,” she said. “I was so excited.”

It’s this kind of confidence and self-assuredness that Sidede exudes. As a finalist in the Face of Kenya USA pageant, Sidede hopes to represent her country as an ambassador here in America.

“I’ve never been one to do pageants,” said Sidede, who was encouraged to apply by a Kenyan she met while interning for Creative Loafing Tampa. “But then I thought it’d be a great way to give back to the school I worked at in 2013,” Sidede said.

As a contestant, Sidede is currently leading a Go Fund Me campaign to raise money for Buruburu Baptist Church School, which provides education for special needs children in Kenya. Sidede interned there her freshmen year when she was a psychology major.

“I wanted to experience it first hand, and it was life changing,” Sidede said. “I had a misconception about kids with disabilities and their ability for achievement.”

Sidede fell in love with the kids, which is why the school is the focus of her fundraising campaign, even though she changed her major to communication with a minor in art. In addition to the Go Fund Me campaign, she is selling her paintings online with proceeds going to the school.

Face of Kenya has been operating in the U.K. since 2012 with the aim “to promote cultural diplomacy, youth empowerment, community cohesion, charitable initiatives and progressive branding of Kenyan products abroad,” according to the organization’s website. Face of Kenya USA is the first charity pageant for a U.S. ambassador and will be held April 4.

Winning the Face of Kenya USA would help propel Sidede’s career goals of being a broadcast journalist by infusing her with poise, public speaking ease and a network of professionals she would meet traveling the U..S.

What makes Kenya so special?

“The people,” she said without hesitation, of the warm hospitality she values above all. “Oh, and the wildlife. And the food!”

Ten minutes on the topic of food and one will walk away salivating. Sidede is already a great ambassador, with a title or not. 

Have a story idea? Contact Jamie Pilarczyk, Web Writer 
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