Alek Wek Quotes
-
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.
-
When my friends talk about childhood, I've never heard of any cartoons or TV they remember. The only thing we share is Michael Jackson. That's how far his music travelled - to a remote village on the other side of the world.
-
When I was 10 years old, I fled my homeland amid the bomb blasts of civil war in Sudan.
-
Going on safari in South Africa was hardcore but a lot of fun - though my friend Maura was absolutely freaking out about all the bugs in her hair and having to pee in the sand.
-
When I first started working with World Vision, I would sit down and talk with them about issues that concern any part of the world. MSF told me about what was going on in North Korea. I also support AIDS and breast cancer charities.
-
It's an awful feeling, being hungry.
-
From nine years old, I lived with fear. I saw our neighbours disappearing. I was scared that I would come home from school and my parents would not be there.
-
My mother always has embedded in us that you guys rock in different ways, and to be able to celebrate that with each other is just beautiful.
-
For me, you have to have some kind of modesty.
-
I am so impressed by UNHCR staff who live and work side by side with the refugees. It's really remarkable.
-
There's one thing we all share: We eat to nurture ourselves, to feel stronger.
-
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.'
-
My commitment to refugees comes from a very personal place.
-
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.
-
Many live to eat, instead of the other way around.
-
When I talk, it shouldn't just be black girls listening.
-
Beauty should not be culturally relevant; it should be universal.
-
When I was working, there was no digital. We actually worked; we used Polaroids.
-
Restaurants serve huge portions on even huger platters, and people are tempted to eat too much.
-
I still have dreams in which someone is coming to the door.