Life on the move…
Abang Othow
{From Archive In early 2007] AfricanOz spoke with model and humanitarian Abang Othow… Photos: www.scenemodels.com 1st image by Marvin Joseph
Since arriving in Australia from an African refugee camp six years ago, Sudanese Australian model Abang Othow has barely stopped to take a breath. First there was self-education, TAFE, work in clothing stores. Then a highly successful career as an international model, stints on TV, studying at university, seeking out and finding her mother she hadn’t seen in 17 years, raising money for countless NGOs… Not that Abang is ready for a rest yet. Right after our interview she’s rushing off to help her community organise a funeral.
At just 24, Abang seems part saint, part diplomat, part beauty queen and part ordinary, fun-loving woman. “Yeah, I played a cranky African chick in Pizza,” she laughs of her bit-part in the SBS comedy series. “Pauly overtook me in his car and found out how tall I was!”
Abang is happy to throw in lighter moments in a lifetime affected by tragedy and war. Through years of hardship, she’s always found the strength to ‘move on’.
“When I was alone without my family (in exile) in Kenya I went through periods of being really depressed,” she admits. “But then I knew I needed to survive. I visualised a dream: imagined conquering and achieving. I needed this to survive.”
Upheaval came early to Abang Othow’s life. Shortly after she turned six years old, her father, an economics lecturer at the University of Juba in southern Sudan, was appointed Minister of Administration in the Sudanese government based in the capital, Khartoum. His links with the undercover southern Sudanese rebel movement, SPLA (Sudanese People Liberation Army), soon led to death theats and persecution. During this dangerous time, Abang, who was suffering from malaria, was sent to join her father in Khartoum.
It wasn’t long before tensions between north and south escalated, forcing Abang and her father to flee the country – leaving their beloved family behind in the south.
For awhile, Abang stayed in Ethiopia – where many of her Anuak people live, close to the Sudanese border – until an escalating war in Ethiopia (towards the end of the Mengistu era) forced them to again move on, this time to Kenya.
While these years weren’t easy, at the age of eight, Abang finally started school. As a teenager she even managed to reach ‘national’ level in the long-distance running finals in Kenya – a skill she may have pursued had it not been for the next period of upheaval in her life.
In 1996 Abang’s father was brutally assassinated after returning to his homeland of Sudan – it was 1997 before Abang heard the tragic news.
She struggled to continue her schooling – but with no support, went back and forth to the Kakuma refugee camp that houses so many refugees from Kenya’s surrounding countries.
Soon after this, Abang was accepted into Australia as a refugee.
“I’d always hoped things would be good when I went overseas,” admits Abang, “but when I arrived in Australia I realised how many problems I had.”
Still a teenager, Abang faced many challenges: adjusting to a new culture, “getting to know myself” and fulfilling a major goal of receiving a good education. Overhanging it all was the urge to see her mother again.
Between going to TAFE, and working for St Vincent de Paul and other clothing shops, Abang tried to trace her mother through church groups, the Red Cross and other organisations. It was a quest that lasted many months.
During this time, in 2002, a girlfriend entered her in a modelling competition where an agency “discovered” her. For the next few years, the work flowed in, not just in modelling – she did the catwalks of Paris, London, New York and Sydney – but in TV and advertising.
With her excellent communication skills, Abang appeared in softdrink commercials, Matrix2 (the movie), and as a panellist on Beauty and the Beast. Her real passion, however, emerged in her support for humanitarian causes: she served as an ambassador for Red Cross and various NGOs.
While all this was going in, Abang continued the search for her family – eventually locating them in Sudan, and bringing them to Australia. It was a reunion like no other as modelling friends chipped in for the welcoming at Sydney Airport. “My family were treated like celebrities with huge, long cars and flowers to greet them at the airport – I’m sure they wondered what kind of lifestyle they’d come to!” she laughs.
However, Abang’s mother was mainly focussed on her daughter she hadn’t seen in 17 years. “She’d never seen my photo, but she recognised me immediately in a group of people by my height and features, and the birthmark on my arm,” says Abang. “It was an emotional time.”
Abang’s family ties remained strong, as did the cause of her Anuak people. She recently set up an NGO to raise awareness and funds for her people who live in the Sudan and Ethiopian border regions, places where they’ve endured genocide, war and major upheaval.
As part of her quest to highlight the atrocities of war Abang is studying arts media and development studies at university, putting her modelling career on hold. She also plans to write a book about her extraordinary story, much of which remains untold.
As for Africans in Australia – she’s currently seeking support to hold workshops to mentor other young refugees. She says there are a lot of organisations to assist refugees in Australia, but not everyone is able to identify with the needs and backgrounds of Africans. “I would like to hear their (young Africans) voices and understand their needs. I would like to inspire new arrivals to put education as a priority… and to help them manage their money and time wisely. There are many demands on African young people in Australia, parents, the media.”
Yes, there are many demands on young people. So how does the 24 year old Abang find the energy to keep moving forward? Abang pauses… “I think having a hard life can make you a bad person – or teach you to be strong,” she says simply. (And there’s no guessing which path Abang Othow has chosen!)
