Desert Flower
SynopsisPlot
Waris, one of 12 children, was born into a traditional family of desert nomads in East Africa. She remembers her early childhood as carefree- racing camels and moving on with her family to the next grazing spot - until it came her turn to meet the old woman who administered the ancient custom imposed on most Somalian girls: circumcision. Waris suffered this torture when she was just five years old. Then, aged 12, when her father attempted to arrange a marriage with a 60 year old stranger in exchange for five camels - she took flight. After an extraordinary escape through the dangerous desert she made her way to London and worked as a maid for the Somalian ambassador until that family returned home. Penniless and speaking little English, she became a janitor in McDonalds where she was famously discovered by a fashion photographer. Her story is a truly inspirational and extraordinary self-portrait of a remarkable woman whose spirit is as breathtaking as her beauty.
Story
About this book
Waris Dirie was born into a family of nomadic herders in Somalia, one of twelve children raised in the rhythms of desert life. Her early years were spent moving between grazing lands and racing camels. At five years old, she was subjected to female genital mutilation, a practice widespread among Somali girls at the time. When she was twelve, her father tried to arrange her marriage to a much older man in exchange for five camels. She refused, and fled alone across the Somali desert.
Her path led first to Mogadishu, then to London, where she worked as a domestic servant in the household of the Somali ambassador. When the family left, she stayed on with almost no English and no money, eventually taking a cleaning job at a McDonald's. There, a fashion photographer noticed her, and her life changed direction entirely. She went on to become an internationally known model.
Desert Flower is Dirie's memoir of that long arc, from nomadic childhood through escape and displacement to a public life. She later became a Special Ambassador for the United Nations, speaking against female genital mutilation and advocating for women's reproductive rights across the world.
