Meet Abayi Longin; Rwandan/Kenyan Model

More often than not, every successful story has a humble beginning and background. Abayi Longin Ogutu was born on the 1st of October 1987 in Rwanda to a middle class family. Rev.Dr.Francois and Mariana a retired accountant by profession. The second born of four, this bundle of joy was the first male of the Francois household. Due to the war that accumulated to the 1994 genocide, Dr. Francois whole family fled to Kenya for safety and Abayi has been there since.

Growing up in Kenya, Abiyi’s dreams were similar to those of many other children’s. He dream’t of one day being a pro athlete.

From a tender age, Abayi stood out from his peers. Being very sportive in primary school he got drafted into most of the school teams ranging from basketball, table tennis, long tennis, football and athletics. He blossomed more while in secondary school and was an outstanding student athlete.

Abayi Longin was not only a top defender on the school’s football team (which he also captained) but his other prowess took him to national competitions in both athletics and table tennis several times. When he wasn’t tearing up the turf and track, Abayi was always busy hitting the books. In class, he had a passion for languages, art, design and technology. Here he gained great vocational skills in wood and metal work.

Later on, Abayi was stricken by injuries that landed him on the sidelines. He then picked up a hobby of weight lifting. Upon completion of secondary school he spent more and more time in the gym. Upon regaining fitness he went on to engage in more advanced workouts but it wasn’t until later on that a friend noticed Abayi’s physical changes and thought he had an ideal models physique. He showed Abayi’s pictures to people in the industry and Abayi’s modeling career was born.

Only months into this new venture, he was fortunate enough to land a huge deal, a TV advert for Pwani life in 2012 and his now a house hold model in the Kenyan fashion industry.

These days, Abayi is happy to have traded track and fields for runways. Although the spotlight has increased, the man who run for his life from Rwanda has remained as humble as ever. He lives a quiet life away from the hustles and tussles of Nairobi in the town of Thika. In his free time, he enjoys sightseeing, hiking and cooking. Fitness being a crucial thing in his life he stays fit both physically, mentally as well as spiritually. He is a practicing Christian, a God fearing young man and credits all his success to God.

Images courtesy of Tahj Photography. Initially published in TAP Magazine issue 4.

@RasMutabaruka