Kenyan woman scores free trip to China with bad photo-editing skills

Sometimes the answer to snagging an all-expenses-paid trip to your dream destination lies in having bad digital editing skills. At least that's the case for one Kenyan woman, Sevelyn Gat.

Ms Gat had taken a virtual tour of China by digitally inserting pictures of herself in photographs of the country's most famous landmarks.

She "set off" for her trip on Feb 29, posting a photo of herself standing next to a plane on her Facebook page. The caption which accompanied the photo read: "I have left the country to China."

In the days that followed, Ms Gat "visited" the Great Wall of China, "posed" precariously on a cliff-walk and "made some new friends" in a temple complex.

Soon, social media users picked up on her (lack of) digital imaging skills.

Amused Twitter users decided to join in the fun by posting their own edits of Ms Gats with the hashtag #WhereIsSeveGatsNow.

Thanks to them, Ms Gats got to "skydive" in Dubai, take a "wefie" with Ellen DeGeneres and visit the moon.

The best gift though, was when Nairobi businessman Sam Gichuru decided to grant Ms Gats her wish by sponsoring a trip for her to visit China.

Mr Gichuru told Ms Gats: "If you were serious, I mean really serious, I have good news for you, get your passport ready because your dreams are about to come true."

Just to make clear that it was a one-time gesture of goodwill, Mr Gichuru added: "To the rest, please don't Photoshop yourself, it won't work."

Photoshop is a popular digital image and graphics editor sold by Adobe.

Besides the free trip, Ms Gats also managed to secure an internship in project management at Kuhustle, an online marketplace owned by Mr Gichuru.

She posted: "Today I have met Sam Gichuru at Nailab to give him updates on the progress. I applied and got my birth certificate last week and now I am applying for my passport!! I also got an internship at kuhustle.com as a project manager!! I promise not to let him and you guys down. Thank you all for supporting me, Looking forward to going to China. God bless you all!"

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/sevelyn.kinya/posts/1019805884801511[/embed]

debwong@sph.com.sg