As a child, growing up in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, Anyier Yuol lived within the moment and never had reason to think about what her future may look like.
She was born in the camp and raised by an auntie after her parents died.
There were few opportunities for children in the camp to try anything new.
So after arriving in Australia as a 10-year-old on a humanitarian visa in 2004, the South Sudanese refugee decided to make the most of whatever came her way.
“I have just told myself, you have an opportunity and nothing can ever stop you, so I've always had this habit that I say yes to everything,” Ms Yuol said.
That attitude has seen the 29-year-old become an advocate for refugees, a football player, PhD candidate, model and founder of a beauty pageant for women of colour.
She can now add the winner of the 2023 Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition to her list of achievements.
The award, named after the late SBS sports broadcaster and refugee from Hungary, recognises an outstanding former refugee raising awareness of the plight of forcibly displaced people.
Building community connections through sport
Ms Yuol came to Australia with her sister and a cousin.
The culture shock was immense and entering formal schooling was difficult but she eventually found her feet in the world of sports.
Ms Yuol started playing cricket and then moved on to football, where her talent was so obvious, a family friend was willing to cover her club fees and did so for six years.
In 2010 Ms Yuol represented Australia at the FIFA Football for Hope Festival as part of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Anyier Yuol excelled in football and represented Australia at the FIFA Football for Hope Festival in 2010 at the World Cup in South Africa. Source: Supplied
The regular events created a safe space for people in the Blacktown area of Sydney where she was from to come together, play sports and talk about challenges in the community.
Ms Yuol’s young age was never a deterrent or even really a factor for her.
“I find solutions and I find ways, I understood what it is to live in a refugee camp and what it is to come from a background where you haven't had the opportunities, you come to a new country and then you have all these opportunities,” she said.
Advocacy through fashion and beauty
When an injury sidelined Ms Yuol, she wanted to find a way to boost her confidence, while having a positive social impact so, while she admits she was a “bit of a tomboy,” she jumped into the world of beauty pageants.
“I came across beauty pageants online and a part of it was that you could advocate for programs that you believe in and you could do some charity work around it and I thought, okay, I'm gonna give it a try,” she said.
But she noticed a lack of diversity in the entrants.
“Every time I competed, I used to find myself the only black woman and I started to face some challenges when it came to inclusion,” Ms Yuol said.
She took this situation as another opportunity; a problem she saw that she could do something to address.
In 2018, Ms Yuol created a beauty pageant for African-Australian women called Miss Sahara.
The pageant not only started a conversation about inclusion in the fashion industry but provided representation and equipped young women with leadership skills, something she also championed through volunteering with the Australian National Committee on Refugee Women.
Anyier Luol created the Ms Sahara beauty pageant to encourage women from African backgrounds to be represented within the fashion industry. Source: Supplied
“I truly wanted to make sure that I was living by example, when I talk about inclusion, because I had already equipped myself with all these skills, I decided, why not take a chance with what I've started and expand that so you can have more inclusion for every person,” she said.
A passion for advocacy and representation
Ms Yuol went on to start her own model management agency, which she still runs, providing opportunities for under-represented groups of all kinds.
Her passion for representation and habit of saying yes, even saw her become the chair of the Australian National Committee on Refugee Women when she was just 25.
“I was able to collect the voices of refugee women and take them to Geneva and share them at the Global Refugee Forum. It gave me the strength and platform to do even more,” Ms Yuol said.
She is currently completing a PhD while also working for Football United, an organisation engaging young people in diverse communities through sport and has started her own not-for-profit organisation, Lead Beyond Education.
"I would like to contribute to change within the Australian society where everyone has equal representation," she said.
Ms Yuol said both her Australian identity and Sudanese culture make her who she is and she is very proud of them equally.
Her PhD is looking at bride price practices in South Sudanese communities in Australia, which she described as an interesting meeting of old traditions being navigated in a new environment.
