Alek Wek Quotes
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My experience as a refugee had made me strong; I could survive anything, even the world of fashion.
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My mother has always instilled in us that we should carry ourselves with dignity despite the horror that came with the civil war. She also taught us that where you come from is very important because that's what makes you who you are. So for me, whatever I've gone through had profoundly shaped me; it has given me strength and unwavering faith.
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I don't understand when people are being greedy or mean, when they say who should get what, when they get control of someone else's life.
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I like unique little boutique hotels, such as Blakes in London.
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I have short hair. It doesn't make me more unattractive than a woman or my sisters that have more longer hair and a bit lighter.
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I have eight brothers and sisters, so I'd like to have a few children.
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Everything has to do with education: If you educate the girls, you educate the family, the community, and society, in general.
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If my mother hadn't encouraged me, I would be nervous and feeling like I'm doing something wrong.
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Education is the key to the future.
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You've got to make yourself happy. I'm a happy person naturally.
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The day you stop enjoying something is the day you should quit, if you can afford to.
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I had jobs from the age of 14, when I arrived in London as a refugee. Aged 17, I'd get up at 4 A.M. to work as a cleaner before school. It wasn't pleasant.
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When I was growing up, my mother taught me and my sisters to celebrate each other - there was no room in our household for negativity. She taught us to embrace each other, and this was empowering for us. She also taught us the value of celebrating our differences.
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All the exhausting aspects of my job are made worthwhile because I get to experience so many different cultures. It makes you really appreciate the memories.
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It's a small world when you're from South Sudan.
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I like to accept it all, the negative and the positive.
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War tore my family apart.
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I was working part-time as a cleaner while I was going to college and then babysitting after school.
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I feel, in 2015, when we see human beings and children dying to cross the ocean, trying to find safety, something more must be done to help them because refugees are just like me and you.
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I used to have nightmares about the civil war when I got to England at ages 14 to 15. It took me some years to get over that.
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I am not really into buying a lot of expensive things.
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I use Johnson & Johnson! I use their baby oil gel.
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You can feel very strongly that someone doesn't like you. I think any model who didn't have the same sort of upbringing as me would find that very difficult. But I absolutely knew I was entitled. I never thought I was ugly - it never crossed my mind.
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When I started modeling, it was like, 'Oh, she's too dark,' and I kind of looked at them like, 'You're too daft.'