Alek Wek Quotes
-
There are people who can look out for other human beings; there are people who can speak up when something is not right and say, 'This is wrong, and something should be done.'
-
Going back to South Sudan after the independence took place was deeply emotional for me because I had gone through the civil war with my family just before going to seek refuge in London.
-
When I was 10 years old, I fled my homeland amid the bomb blasts of civil war in Sudan.
-
When I think of 'Instagram models,' I say you have to take baby steps. You cannot just walk straight onto the runway.
-
London is like my second home. I've still got friends there from school and from when I first started in the modelling business - people such as Karen Elson, Jasmine Guinness, Jade Parfitt.
-
I still have dreams in which someone is coming to the door.
-
Bones inside clothes. That was war to me.
-
There's one thing we all share: We eat to nurture ourselves, to feel stronger.
-
When I talk, it shouldn't just be black girls listening.
-
Beauty should not be culturally relevant; it should be universal.
-
Starting modeling in the '90s, it was quite surreal. They were like, 'You're so different! So weird! So bizarre!' And I'm like, 'I'm so normal. What are you talking about?'
-
Leaving southern Sudan as a child was terrifying. It was 1985, and my family and I were trying to escape to Khartoum, the capital in the North, to safety.
-
I had serious psoriasis as a child - it's strange that I make my living off my looks after years of looking like a monster.
-
Many live to eat, instead of the other way around.
-
I am so impressed by UNHCR staff who live and work side by side with the refugees. It's really remarkable.
-
Restaurants serve huge portions on even huger platters, and people are tempted to eat too much.
-
When I was working, there was no digital. We actually worked; we used Polaroids.
-
For me, it always goes back to what my mother taught me and my sisters. That all women are beautiful, and we should embrace each other.
-
South Sudanese people are rich like the soil; they just need a little water, and they will grow.
-
We eat to live.
-
My commitment to refugees comes from a very personal place.
-
When I first started modeling, I realised I was very different from many of my colleagues, but I welcomed the opportunities my career in fashion offered me and the support from many inspiring individuals in the fashion industry.
-
There's never too much you can do.
-
I know how it feels to go hungry.