Alek Wek Quotes
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At times, we take freedom for granted. We really don't know how to cherish the freedom we have until it's taken from us.
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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.'
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I've eight brothers and sisters - five girls, four boys. I am the seventh.
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I never thought I would see a free South Sudan.
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True beauty is born through our actions and aspirations and in the kindness we offer to others.
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It was the most exciting thing to leave secondary school and go to college, to have that freedom to study whatever I wanted.
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The beauty of reading is that it lets you travel in a way you could never know.
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I've seen mothers and children really being vulnerable in the refugee camps; it's supposed to be temporary, but they end up having children who have grown up in refugee camps.
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Beauty does not mean one thing but not something else.
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In restaurants in my Brooklyn neighborhood, I always ask for a doggie bag to bring the leftovers home.
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When you give, you receive.
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I don't even know where to start in terms of people having such an issue about color, especially being dark. I just think on different levels it's ignorance; it's no belief, no confidence, it's insecurity, so you want to inflict it on somebody else.
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My life was filled with family in South Sudan. I am the seventh of nine children, and we grew up in what would be considered a middle-class family. We did not have a lot, but we did have more than a lot of other people.
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There are mothers who sew for six months to make a fashion collection - someone's grandmother, someone's sister. We come in and get paid to walk for 10 minutes at the end. Whenever I think about that, I realise it's not about me. I was just the one chosen to represent those women and sell the clothes.
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It's sometimes tiring to get off a long-haul flight and go straight to the studio for a shoot, but if you really plan everything well, you can get so much out of combining travel with work.
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When I was a girl, civil war in Sudan forced me to flee my home town of Wau.
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Don't focus on negative things; focus on the positive, and you will flourish.
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I've always loved to paint - I was studying to do an art degree when I was approached to become a model - and I've being doing some design work as well. I also love just having a quiet time, sitting in my little library at home in Brooklyn and reading or watching documentaries or listening to music.
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You could fancy what you'd like, but as a woman, my mother always raised us to believe in ourselves. I am very grateful that my mother brought me up that way.
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I could never understand why other kids wanted to truant - my education here gave me everything. It's the place where I really got to flourish.
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I love cooking. I love having friends around.
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Beauty is subjective and should not be limited to only what we see on the outside.
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We need to do everything we can to protect the health and welfare of children around the world, but fortunately, it's getting easier to provide things like medication and care.
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My father made sure of discipline, but my mum, she was serious business.