In March 2009, Melbourne played host to the L’Oreal Fashion Festival. This event, which included Australia’s leading designers, was an important annual gathering for the industry. While the drawcards included big name celebrities such as former Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins, the media also turned its attention to several young women of Sudanese origin.

International catwalks have seen the likes of many Africans including Sudan’s Alek Wek, but African models have largely been invisible in the local Australian modelling scene.  This is slowly changing, as a growing number of African models, who have made Australia home, feature more prominently on Australian catwalks.

Marina Vasili,  24, is currently studying a Masters Course in International Relations while Ajak Deng, 19,  is studying VCE. Both were crowned Miss South Sudanese of Australia – Marina in 2008 and Ajak is the current title holder. Both began modelling only in recent years.

What is remarkable about Marina Vasili and Ajak Deng, apart from their appearance, is the personal hurdles that both have had to overcome.  The glitz and glamour of the catwalk is a very long way from their origins and difficulties that faced them and many other Sudanese who today have made Australia home.

According to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Sudanese community is currently one of the fastest growing communities in Australia. There are now more than 20,000 settlers who were born in Sudan, most of whom live in Victoria. Sixty-two percent of the Sudanese-population are aged twenty-four years old and younger, while 45 per cent are females.

Vasili is a member of the ethnic Dinka community from south Sudan. Born in Ethiopia, she lived there until she was five years old. Her mother and her siblings then moved to a refugee camps in Kenya while her father went back to Sudan and joined Sudan People Liberation Army as a commander and fought against Islamic Sudan government. 

Sudan, Africa’s largest country, has endured civil war for all but 10 years since it achieved independence in 1956, after nearly 80 years of British rule.  Stems from its colonial experience, historically, Sudan has been viewed as a nation divided between north and south. The North is more developed and more prosperous, is influenced by Egypt and is predominately Muslim. The South is home to untapped natural resources, Christian and animist beliefs, poverty and a resilient rebel movement.

Formerly from Tonj in southern Sudan, Deng’s family moved in 2002 to the refugee camps in Kenya which she describes as uncomfortable and unsafe.  “It was no fun; it was too hot, and sometimes people came around and killed others at night” Deng said. Fear of violence and sexual assault, fierce competition for insufficient resources and services, inadequate medical treatment and supplies, poor health and education, and limited job opportunities were all part of daily life in the camps.

Vasili’s family migrated to Australia in 1999 with the support of the Australian Greek community as her great-grandfather was Greek descendent, and her uncle lives in Greece.  While Deng’s family together with her father, step-mother and five other siblings migrated in 2005.

Arriving in Australia at the age of 12 Vasili was fond of the new way of life straight away, particularly in comparison with her previous life experience in the refugee camp. 

Going to the Adelaide Secondary School of English helped her to adjust to life in Australia as she met students from different nationalities and with similar backgrounds like hers.  “I thought of them as having similar experiences to me, coming from the same background, that people have suffered or struggled somehow.  I fitted in quickly and interacted very well with them.. befriending some of them helped me to adapt” Vasili said.

But settling in to a new life down under was not without hiccups.  Learning a new language was one of them.  “It’s hard at first. You don’t know the language or the accent all that well. And when you speak to people they laugh at you” said Deng.

According to the ABS report, the majority of Sudan-born entrants (79 per cent) described their English proficiency as ‘nil’ or ‘poor’; limited English language skill is usually one of the most significant problems in the integration process.

Another hurdle for them was the feeling of isolation and lack of support after leaving behind their extended families and social networks in Africa.  But both accepted that migrating to Australia was the only option for a brighter future.  “We left Sudan for us to have a better life. If I was back in Sudan, I would have probably been married with children and my parents didn’t want that. They wanted me and my siblings to have better opportunities and good education”, said Deng.  Vasili also similarly expressed her feeling “the opportunities are here; it gives purpose to look forward to”.

Cultural difference is another obstacle they need to overcome.  As young girls, they saw many of their peers face a difficult time with their parents. “Sudanese traditional and Australian upbringings could clash and confuse younger people; it makes them harder to settle. They are finding it very difficult. The mounting cultural difference is drifting the community apart.  It is like a rebellion against the older generation (which) is silently going on right now” Vasili explained.

For Vasili her parents have been supportive of her modeling activities as they now have better cultural understandings compared to the time when they arrived.  Her parents blessing propelled her to join competitions that lifted her name; she was the runner up in the Search for the Face of Adelaide ahead of a hundred other girls who competed in the contest. 

Deng was already doing modeling when Vasili met her; it was Deng who encouraged her to enter the 2008 competition.  Modelling is not openly welcomed yet in the Sudanese community.  Deng acknowledges that traditionally Sudanese women are seen to be subordinate to men and are expected to be responsible for home affairs. She seeks to break out of this role, “I don’t want to just get married, I want to go to school, I want to be someone someday and not just be a housewife when you’re still a teenager. That’s wrong.” 

This motivation makes her well-known in her community, and young Sudanese girls are looking up to her as a role model.  She understands because of these cultural differences, other girls are looking for a way out.  “I feel like crying when they say that they want to be like me, but I always say that (they) can do something better than me. They can do more than just modelling, because beauty usually lasts only for a few years. Put the marriage behind, go to school and get a career” she said.

Their good reputation in the modeling industry changes peoples’ perception about Sudanese refugees as the mainstream media tends to considers “the whole Sudanese community as bad people; the young people get involved in crime or some civil deviant behavior.  It upsets me immediately once I see some bad press grossly generalizing us as criminals (and) don’t fit in Australia” she added.

Sharing the same stage with an international ex-beauty queen in front of the nation’s who’s who in fashion and getting widespread publicity in the media, Vasili hopes will change these attitudes.

Though they believe modeling can open doors for them, but their dreams for the future lay elsewhere. Vasili wants to work for the United Nations while Deng hopes to run her own legal practice one day.

*This article was produced as a result of cooperation between Swinburne media unit and yarraReporter