2014 Mister Africa International, Arnaldo Jose of Angola Shares His Winning Story

A story from our 2014 Mister Africa International, Arnaldo Jose of Angola:

Being Mister Africa, change my life!

It was a dream come true when I was announced as the MISTER ANGOLA at an event in April in Luanda, little did I know bigger things were yet to come. My boss at Hadja Models, Mr Hajda, informed me I was going to be representing Angola at the MISTER AFRICA INTERNATIONAL in London and I was over the moon, filled with joy. It would be nice to get out of Angola for a change I thought to myself!

We arrived London on a very cold morning and I was put on an exchange sort of program, were you get to live with a UK resident for three days and experience London, I had the time of my life! And then the competition started and I met some amazing guys, and I had no idea I was gonna win, looking at how perfect they all seemed to look!

'And the winner is ..... ANGOLA', I almost fainted! All I could do was smile so big! And that was the start of big things to come. The next few days in London were alittle bit hectic! With press from over 30 countries talking about me, I could not believe this was eventually happening. I had to learn to speak English better so quick, I had photoshoots, interviews, parties, it was a whirlwind. I also got to shop with my bosses, Hajda and the new boss Ayotunde Twitch.

The welcome back home was over whelming, the new MISTER AFRICA had arrived. They saw me as a beacon of hope, and that added alittle pressure to me, but with the support of the Mister Africa team and Hadja models, I was able to not didsapoint my people.

I had a fun filled year, from covering several African magazines, to being the ambassador to the EBOLA campaign, to walking big runways like ANGOLA FASHION WEEK, and taking part in several commercials, it was an awesome filling. My West African tour, was also amazing! My best experience was using my hands to eat a local dish in Lagos, Nigeria, and I enjoyed so much the popular Nigerian jollof rice! I am quite excited to go back to West Africa, As I crown my successor in January.

One advice to the next Mister Africa, 'making a difference is the only thing that would make the title truly worth it, you have a voice with the title and you are the lucky one to have it, run with it and make the world remember you after your one year reign'.

A special thank you to Hajda models who sponsored my year as MISTER AFRICA INTERNATIONAL, to my people who supported me, and a big thank you to my boss at Mister Africa, Ayotunde Twitch, thanks for making the world know who ARNALDO JOSE is'.