Traveling around Ethiopia, I saw dozens of abandoned textile factories. People kept asking me to help them find work. So I thought I could make use of my experience in fashion to commercialize their products outside of Ethiopia. – Liya Kebede
President Obama has made maternal health one of the core priorities of U.S. international aid funding. – Liya Kebede
When our mothers are alive and healthy, they do extraordinary things… like the mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who marched in Argentinean plazas, defying the military junta dictatorship and demanding the whereabouts of their abducted children… or the Liberian mothers who faced down civil war armed only with T-shirts and courage. – Liya Kebede
When countries commit to protecting vulnerable lives, they should receive support from those who can provide it in order to make their programs a success. – Liya Kebede
There’s a saying in Africa: ‘To find out you are pregnant is to have one foot in the grave.’ – Liya Kebede
Doing designs on a loom takes a lot of talent and experience, and, trust me, I won’t be able to do that. – Liya Kebede
When a woman has her first child in places like Africa, they’re really young. They can be 12, 13,14, so their frames are really small, and they’re usually malnourished. – Liya Kebede
While I was pregnant, I had dozens of checkups. They covered everything from blood tests to ultrasounds, and I even had the option of attending birthing classes with my husband. – Liya Kebede
I don’t think we should judge celebrities for doing charity work. Period. Whatever their reasons for doing it, they are shedding light on issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. – Liya Kebede
I don’t listen to people who say my dreams are impossible; I just work to prove them wrong. – Liya Kebede
Dying in childbirth is something that’s not new; it’s been going on for ages, and so it’s not something that people focus on; it’s not something that gets funded a lot, and it’s exactly for that reason that we are losing mothers all the time, and we have kids with no mothers. – Liya Kebede
I actually started modeling in Ethiopia, because that’s where I grew up, and I started out by just doing little fashion shows for school, and I liked it so much that I started pursuing it. – Liya Kebede
I know how much parents love buying clothes for their kids and how they want to give them something new in the closet. – Liya Kebede
In 1967, the world health community launched a global effort to eradicate smallpox. It took a coordinated, worldwide effort, required the commitment of every government, and cost $130 million dollars. By 1977, smallpox had disappeared. – Liya Kebede
I think, first of all, every time you want to play somebody who is real is always challenging and always scary, because you are given a responsibility of someone’s real life. – Liya Kebede
It’s very difficult to hand someone your whole life story to play, and you’ve never really met that person. – Liya Kebede
For my wardrobe, I like to invest in classic pieces and pair them with more trendy new pieces and accessories each season. – Liya Kebede
