Tess Njuhi · Jun 19, 10:58 AM

Stress, being stressed, trying to manage stress, being targeted to buy products that help reduce stress—this is part of our lives. It’s a joke to Njuhi Theresa Wanjugu, not so much because she works to relieve stress, she doesn’t have it in the first place. Growing up in Kenya, the concept was foreign to her, one only imported through films. “In Kenya we think Americans are always stressed out. When we watch movies it’s always, ‘I’m so stressed. I’m so stressed.’ In Kenya, my friends and I started using that word, saying ‘I’m so stressed,’ because we thought it was funny. I’ve never understood it. Why would you be stressed?”
But what happens when a Kenyan moves to New York City? Well, it’s John Casablancas’ fault, sort of. Casablancas, one of the founders of the Elite Modeling Agency, went to Africa looking for talent. He found Tess.
You know that saying about some people looking good before they open their mouths and others not looking good until they open their mouths? Tess’ beauty comes through before and after she speaks. I challenge the city to try and stress her out.

YP: When you were a little girl did you dream of becoming a model?

T: No.

YP: What did you want to be then?

T: I had so many things I wanted to be. I wanted to be a fashion designer. I wanted to be a business woman. I wanted to be a nun. When the opportunity came [to model] I [considered it] because I had never been on a plane. I thought it would be good for me to go on a trip, like a one week thing, and I’d be finished.
We traveled and I ended up getting picked and joining the Elite Modeling Agency.

YP: How did you initially hear about the chance to model?

T: They advertised everywhere, in the newspaper, on the radio, in my school. People told me I should do it because I am tall. When I went, there were so many people that I thought I had no chance. I [placed] in the top sixty in my town. They went to different towns and picked another sixty girls. Then out of all the girls they had to pick three of us and I ended up being one of the three.

YP: Three from all of Kenya?

T: Yes. And then they went to other countries like Rwanda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and they had to pick three more from each of them. Then they combined us all and picked just one.

YP: And you were the one?

T: Yes. (laughs)

YP: Did you know any of the other girls?

T: No.

YP: You got a modeling contract after you won this contest?

T: Yes. That’s how I ended up going to South Africa.

YP: Were you under contract as long as you were there?

T: I was under contract for a year, but then I renewed it. They send you to other countries. They sent me to Germany and then to London.

YP: When you first left Kenya were you overwhelmed with what you saw?

T: Definitely. Most people in Africa don’t go to each other’s countries. We take [Africa] for granted. We just want to go to Western countries and see the tall buildings.

YP: In America kids have a summer vacation and they might take a road trip or travel with their families. Did you do anything like that when you were a child?

T: Some people do, but most of the time people go to see their grandparents who always live in the rural areas. I come from Nairobi. I am from Kiambu. We have 55 to 60 different tribes in Kenya. My tribe is the biggest; it’s called the Kikuyu. They are the ones who fought the British out of Kenya during Colonialism.

YP: When you’re walking around and you have a second to think or when you find yourself alone do you feel a sense of ‘I’m from Kenya,’ ‘I am Kenyan’ ?

T: Definitely. I don’t think I’ll ever feel like an American.

YP: Never?

T: I didn’t grow up here. Sometimes I don’t get the jokes. Like if you came to Kenya, you wouldn’t get some of the jokes. The music, the country, nature, everything is different.

YP: Have your experiences of traveling brought you closer to people? Do you feel you have a wider understanding of people or can it still be difficult to relate to others?

T: I don’t think it’s difficult. Everyone has their own upbringing, their own beliefs. I’ve come to understand everyone as an individual.
When I moved here, when I met [my husband] and we’d go out for dinner people would ask me all these questions and I’d answer them, but they’d be like, ‘Why doesn’t she say much’? I would be thinking, ‘Why do they want to know so much. I told you what I want to tell you. I’m not going to ask you about your personal life; it’s none of my business.’ I find here people want to know everything about you so they can label you. It’s insulting.
In Kenya you can’t go to someone and ask someone, “So what do you do? Where do you live’? You just shake hands.

YP: And then some people are more talkative and they’ll tell you more and some are quieter and they’ll leave it at a handshake?

T: Yes, but you never talk about your work.

YP: People always want to know what you do…

T: And the places you go to.

YP: I wonder if people have always been like this in America.

T: I don’t think so. I’ve watched documentaries from the 60’s and the 70’s and people were so social. They didn’t worry about the things that people worry about today.
They used to bring us magazines and films from Western countries and that’s why so many young people want to travel outside the continent, to Spain or London. Once you get there though, you have fun for a little bit but then you start missing home.
I’ve never gotten attached to anything in America.

YP: What did you expect of America before you came here?

T: I wanted to see if everything they told me on the television was true.

YP: Is it true?

T: (laughs) Some of it is. In the movies they showed us that all the black people have guns. My parents wanted to know if it was true, if all black people had guns. It’s the same here though; when someone goes to Kenya she expects to see dying people with A.I.D.S. and animals walking around everywhere. It’s silly. You should just go to a country, see for yourself, and decide for yourself what you’re going to think about it.

YP: A friend asked me if I wanted to visit him in Israel and the first thing I thought about was all the negative stuff I see on television but when I got there I couldn’t get over how rich and beautiful the country was.

T: I feel bad when they report about Africa and it’s only about people dying. In Kenya, when we talk about other people’s countries we never bring them down; we just want to go there and see for ourselves. People are scared to go to Africa.

YP: Why do you think that is?

T: Too much media.

YP: I’d imagine most Americans think A.I.D.S. and going on a safari when they think Africa.

T: Yeah. It’s sad.

YP: What’s the difference between being a tourist and being a traveler?

T: I’ve been in New York for six years so I’m pretty used to everything but I’m not attached to anything, as I said. I don’t feel like a tourist.

YP: Why do you remain detached from everything in the city? Don’t you have any friends?

T: I do have friends but most of my friends are not from here. When I moved to South Africa I met so many people and I thought I was going to live there forever. Now we just communicate through e-mail. My best friend, who I met in South Africa, was from London. We both moved to New York City, but she didn’t like it so she went back to London.

YP: Did you feel isolated when you first moved to New York and you were living out in Staten Island?

T: I didn’t really care; I was happy to be in America.
When I moved here I didn’t move for work. I was so lonely in London and my friend who was living in Staten Island at the time asked me to come visit in the summer, because London was so cold, so I came here and never went back.

YP: (staring at her).

T: (laughs) My agency in London was pissed. They were calling and trying to find out where I was. I had a three-year contract. I was there for almost a year and I decided to leave.

YP: That contract is done, huh?

T: Yes, that was six years ago. I came here, the people were nicer, smiling all the time, and I decided to stay here.

YP: Have you left the country since you moved here six years ago?

T: Yes, I go to Africa every December and I stay for two to three months. I have so many relatives to go see, my grandmother, my cousins, everybody.

YP: Do they want to hear about America?

T: Yeah, they want to see pictures. They want to visit but it’s very difficult for them to come here. I prefer to go there because I have so many people to see.

YP: Have you ever had any problems with your Visa?

T: No, as soon as I came I went to an agency and they signed me up and they did my work permit. That’s how I’ve stayed.

YP: Where is the best place to work?

T: I like it here. I wanted to try Paris but I decided not to.

YP: Why not?

T: I’m tired of traveling; I used to travel so much. I even went to Libya and met Muammaar Gaddafi. We flew from South Africa to Libya to do a fashion show for him. All of his bodyguards were women.

YP: Did they have guns?

T: Yeah, that was cool.

YP: How many girls were in the fashion show?

T: We were four from South Africa and the other girls were from Paris. There were twenty of us and everybody was excited to meet him.

YP: Were you modeling a particular designer’s clothes or just having the show for the sake of having it for Gaddafi?

T: He didn’t even come because men are not allowed to come to fashion shows.

YP: So, who watched the show?

T: The men’s wives. Everybody has to cover up and all that, the clothing in a fashion show was weird to them.

YP: What did you wear?

T: I don’t remember but nothing provocative. When we went we were told not to wear tight jeans or short skirts. Everybody was decent.

YP: How has your style changed over the years?

T: I’ve always been stylish, ever since I was young. I remember when I moved to South Africa, this guy Naije who used to be my best friend, told me I dress like people from the Village. I thought, ‘Oh, I dress that bad”?

YP: How did you meet Naije?

T: When you move to South Africa with an agency, every agency has a modeling house. They put all of you there so you get to know each other.

YP: He was a model?

T: Yeah. Most of the people I knew there were models. We were so isolated from the normal working people so all we knew were us.

YP: What was a typical day?

T: Going to castings, coming home and getting ready to go out in the evening. Every day doing the same thing. Work and go out and go home. I got tired of it.

YP: Do you find that ultimately you do the same thing over and over wherever you’re at in the world?

T: Not here. There was a time when I was just modeling and I thought I was wasting my time just doing one thing. I went to school and learned how to make jewelry.

YP: Where did you go to school?

T: FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). First I did clothing design. I finished that; I got bored. I took up jewelry design; I finished. Now I’m thinking about [taking up] sculpting. When you asked me what I thought I wanted to become when I was young, I didn’t know because I was so interested in so many things. I want to try them [all] until I find what I’m really interested in.

YP: Do you often think about what is my thing?

T: No, not really.

YP: You don’t stress about it?

T: I never stress.
In Kenya we think Americans are always stressed out. When we watch movies it’s always, ‘I’m so stressed. I’m so stressed.’
In Kenya, my friends and I started using that word, saying ‘I’m so stressed,’ because we thought it was funny. I’ve never understood it. Why would you be stressed?

YP: What’s the most difficult thing in your life right now?

T: If I had the same opportunities in Kenya as I do in New York I’d be in Kenya. I’d go home and do the same things I do here.

YP: I bet there are people who grew up in Minnesota and Iowa who live in New York who feel the same way.

T: I’m so happy that I get to go home and see my family and hang out. So many of my friends can’t do that. They are stuck here because they don’t have visas to go back.

YP: Do you have any brothers or sisters?

T: I have three brothers and two sisters.

YP: Do you talk to them often?

T: I talk to them almost every day. The only people I can’t talk to are my grandmother and grandfather because they don’t use telephones. They’re very traditional. My grandfather refuses to wear shoes; he says it’s a Colonial thing. He never wears shoes but he’ll dress in a suit. If you say, ‘You’re wearing a suit, that’s a colonial thing.’ He’ll say, ‘No, it’s made in Kenya.’ Those are the things I miss the most.

My little brother, he’s 21, he’s very smart. He was going to be this big accountant. He was among the top ten students in Kenya. He went to college for three days and he decided to come home and meditate. That’s what he does and he’s happy. One day he might go back. Everybody in my family accepts it. He stays home and meditates. That’s his life.

YP: How does he pay his rent?

T: In Kenya you can live with your parents as long as you want. He lives at home.

YP: What can we learn from Kenyans?

T: To take it easy.

YP: Are you going to keep modeling?

T: I will until I’m bored of it. I’ll do other things too that come into my mind.

YP: What keeps you interested in the business? What do you like about it?

T: You get to play different characters. The other day I did a shoot for Target and I was supposed to be a librarian. How do you become a librarian? They made my hair into an afro and put me in a suit. I looked very mature and I had to act it. It’s fun to be different characters.

YP: Do you often find that they only want white girls for jobs?

T: Yeah. In South Africa, black, white, we were all working. But here, in my agency we only have three black girls. There was a time I went to an agency because I wanted to change the one I was with, they told me, ‘You’re very beautiful but we have enough black models.’ I looked on the wall [at the pictures of the models] and they only have two. There are fifty other models and they’re all white. (laughs) That puts me off sometimes.
You’ve seen it in fashion shows, there’ll be one or none [black girls]. You’ll never see a fashion show of black girls and just one white girl. It’s never going to happen.

YP: Anywhere you need to travel that you haven’t been?

T: I still want to travel Africa. I’m Kenyan but, I’ve only been to South Africa and Uganda because that’s where my [modeling] competition was. And Libya for Gaddafi. That’s it.

If you can afford it it’s very important to go and see different kinds of people. It’s a very good experience. Everything they show you on television is a lie. They just went to a small part and that’s what they write about, [as if that represents] the whole country.

— Young Philosopher

Comment

1. GREAT interview amser!! take it easy…yep.

   — joe · May 22, 09:41 PM · #

2. JBS:

   You’re getting blogged about as an inspiration.
   http://thankyounyc.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html#4454889079323988958

   — albin · May 23, 12:15 AM · #

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