Moise Bangteke and women : this can be described as a love story. When he decided to help put on the Miss Mama Kilo pageant in 2006, it was to join his wife in her support for women. Since then, he has been putting all his energy towards helping his wife, Nadia Ewandé, make Miss Mama Kilo of Africa a reality. Why ? For his wife. For large women who should accept their bodies and gain more confidence. For a traditional perception of beauty. That is the kind of man that Moise is. He admires women. We met him in Douala.


Africavox.com : What made you launch the Miss Mama Kilo pageant four years ago?

Moise Bangteke : It was Nadia's idea. She came to understand that large women were frustrated because of the people around them. They did not accept their curvaceous bodies. Nadia talked to me about it and we came up with the idea of holding a beauty contest for plus size women. Also, many of these women have serious health problems.


Africavox.com: What do you mean?

M.B. : They absolutely want to be thin and will stop at nothing. Most of them take fat-reduction pills which is ill advised. Some women even die because of the medication. Women with very full chests have a complex about that. They tend to cover themselves with their handbags to avoid getting stared at. After "Miss Lolo" came out, the song by Meimay from the Côte d'Ivoire, many women got worked up and revitalised. And not just big-busted women. As soon as we launched the first Miss Mama Kilo pageant, so many women felt liberated. They completely let loose.


Africavox.com : Some critics are saying that you are encouraging these women to become obese.

M.B. : No, of course not. We have never encouraged women to gain weight. Traditionally, being big was a sign of beauty in Africa. You'll see that outside of Cameroon, pageants which are similar to Miss Mama Kilo are showing up around the continent. In the Côte d'Ivoire, you'll find Miss Awoulaba; in Togo, Nana Benz; in Burkina Faso, Miss Poog-beêdré; in the Congo, Miss Mama Kilo; in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Miss Nzanga Yénéné; in Benin, Reine Hanan; in Senegal, Miss Diongoma. In Cameroon, we are organising counseling sessions and seminars to educate the public about the dangers of being overweight: risk of strokes, diabetes, etc.


Africavox.com : Are your educational campaigns geared towards just the contestants?

M.B. : We're now trying to reach out even further into the general public. We want to inform people about these issues via the magazine we'll be launching. The magazine will be ready for publication this year. Last year, we couldn't release it because we were running late. This issue will contain about a hundred heavily illustrated pages about the contestants, health and nutrition. This way, the public will understand that we are not promoting obesity.


Africavox.com : When will the magazine be out ?

M.B. : The magazine should be ready for the finals of Miss Mama Kilo 2010 in mid-September.


Africavox.com : The musician Nadia Ewandé, your wife and pageant co-organiser, had announced that many African pageant producers are negotiating a possible Miss Mama Kilo of Africa? How is that going?

M.B. : Nadia is the one who's been in charge of this project but she's been under medical treatment in Paris for over two years. The other organisers invited her to attend several pageants in other African countries. That's how she got the idea to set up an Africa-wide competition. Despite Nadia's absence, I've been told that the project is underway, slowly but surely. We're just tying things up now. The contestants from the other African countries will be able to enter Miss Mama Kilo of Africa. It will be the other African Cup of Nations ! The goal, as I said earlier, is to help women get over their complexes, to give them confidence and to bring back a sense of traditional African beauty.