Conversation With Supermodel Alek Wek
O'BRIEN: She was a refugee. Now she's a supermodel. Alek Wek was forced to flee Sudan when she was just 14 years old. She's been working for years now to raise awareness of the desperate situation in her homeland. Alek Wek joins us. It's so nice to see you and to meet you.</s>ALEK WEK, FASHION MODEL: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: And you're doing such amazing work. I want to talk about all of that. First a little bit about your story. You were a displaced person with -- inside your country first before you finally left for London when you were 14 years old.</s>WEK: Absolutely.</s>O'BRIEN: What was it like to be a teenager and dealing with these sorts of things?</s>WEK: Well, I was a very young teenager at the time and I didn't really quite understand why it was happening. But we had to definitely find a safer place, first of all. Even not just to struggle. And within that process, of course, I had my family to really be grateful for. And also having gone to England at age 14, that really helped. But it was always in the back of my mind. And finally last year, I had the courage to go back and have so much of a closure. But also it left me with -- thinking there's so much devastation that was still going on and...</s>O'BRIEN: It's got to be heartbreaking to return.</s>WEK: It is.</s>O'BRIEN: You went with your mom and she hadn't been back to the village...</s>WEK: Correct.</s>O'BRIEN: ... in Sudan for 20-something years.</s>WEK: Absolutely.</s>O'BRIEN: What was it like to go back?</s>WEK: It was very emotional for me, but it was even much more to see my mother that's always been the strength and the really backbone of the family.</s>O'BRIEN: She was a mess?</s>WEK: I mean, it was just -- she broke down. And I could understand why. But it also left me with, OK, now it's not just about talking about it, but actually doing something. It's a shame to see not just, you know, me being a young woman now, but what's going to happen to the young generation? I mean, there's no schools. You know, the kids, they just really begging and sharing the pens. And there's no, like, proper medication. Or even, you know, the hospital that I was born in in the small town, wow. It's -- you would probably get sick in there than even getting treated. So it was very frustrating for me. And also I think much more for the people. And I really thought, like, it wasn't about going back and absolutely not doing anything and just talking about. I was like, now I've got to really do something. And so many people do agree, and I couldn't understand why there wasn't really much of a reform. Because it doesn't take a day to build a building, we all know that, but...</s>O'BRIEN: Everyone seems to agree. There's definitely a huge, A massive problem.</s>WEK: Absolutely.</s>O'BRIEN: And yet we all sort of wring our hands. Let's talk about what you're doing. We should mention, because you left for London is when you were discovered and became a supermodel and have an incredibly successful career.</s>WEK: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: So now you're bringing a lot of your renown, frankly, to this plight of your countrymen and women. What are you doing now? What's your focus?</s>WEK: I mean, first of all, I've been lucky enough, you know, it's not just my work that's got me to where I am; it's a team effort. And I didn't start modeling at 16 years old. My mother wouldn't have that, obviously. And first of all I had to learn how to speak English, to write from right to left instead of from left to -- excuse from left to right, instead of from, you know, right to left.</s>O'BRIEN: Everything.</s>WEK: And also making -- you know, that feeling I was safe, too. I had to always look behind my back. Is it dark? Maybe I should go back in. And my friends were like, maybe you should chill out. But it's really difficult. And to see after, you know, I left 10, 15 years, you know, you would think there's a progression, but it was really run down. And that's when I was like now I'm not just going to keep working with U.S. Committee for Refugees to just raise awareness or Doctors Without Borders, which I had actually come across on the ground. I was like, who are these medical teams that come in these horrible conditions, and not even having the proper tools to even...</s>O'BRIEN: Your focus is on the children now.</s>WEK: Seriously the children and the elders are really vulnerable, just the whole community. It's not just the rebels and the, you know, the government that have fought the war. I feel really just even walking all those miles, going to the village, and my father with his hip, not having it replaced at the time because there wasn't any -- no outlet for that. And him passing away. That was really a wakeup call for the whole Wek family, you know, five girls, four boys, and it was not easy, so...</s>O'BRIEN: Sometimes as an outsider, when we look at the situation, we just feel, what could I do? I mean, what do I do? Do I write a check? Do I go and jump on a plane to Africa and help out?</s>WEK: I mean, there are so many ways. There are so many ways. I mean, first of all, we understand the environment is very important for, you know, us living in it. So even as simple as having a pump, which UNICEF have been incredible. I mean, in my mother's town -- we all know Sudan is the biggest country in Africa. So you can just imagine. And the climate change made it really dry for the people to even cultivate. And then you've got people that have been displaced, because they have all run from their villages because they're afraid, because people are getting killed at the time before the peace agreement. So now there's a peace agreement. But like you said, nothing is solved overnight. So having the pumps, clean water. There's low cholera, education. We al know education is knowledge. So working with these young people, really working together, and that's why I'm, like, working to educate kids is very important.</s>O'BRIEN: You're clearly very passionate about it.</s>WEK: Thank you very much.</s>O'BRIEN: And I hope everyone is heeding your words, and hopefully with what we're doing today.</s>WEK: First is the realization, and one you realize that and you are open enough to educate yourself, you'll be surprised.</s>O'BRIEN: Exactly right. Alek Wek, it's so nice to meet you in person. Thank you very much.</s>WEK: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: A short break and we're back in just a moment.