116 Quotes by Alek Wek

When I was 10 years old, I fled my homeland amid the bomb blasts of civil war in Sudan.

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 am so impressed by UNHCR staff who live and work side by side with the refugees. It's really remarkable.

It was the most exciting thing to leave secondary school and go to college, to have that freedom to study whatever I wanted.

Whenever I feel I am going through my own 'little' challenging moment, I just think about my mom.

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.

In restaurants in my Brooklyn neighborhood, I always ask for a doggie bag to bring the leftovers home.

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.'