Desert Flower - Waris Dirie

In religion class we read part of the book Desert Flower by Waris Dirie. It ties into us learning about Gender Equality.

This is a true story about the life of the Somalian model Waris Dirie. She grew up with a nomadic family in rural Somalia but ran away from home when her father insisted that she marry a much older man. She went to the capital city, Mogadishu, and then eventually moved to London with her aunt and uncle. In London she met a photographer and became a well known supermodel. In the book Waris talks a bout Female Genitil Mutilation, something that is commanly done to young girls in Africa to ensure that they can get a husband. In her book Waris describes how the procedre is hardly ever preformed in a hospital and that no anestic is used. After it is done the girls are put into a hut to recover for a week, and many of them die from infection. When she was much older Waris went to the doctor in Londen and she had an operation to try and fix the damage that had been done, the operation helped with the pain alot but it could not reverse the damage that had been done. Reading the part of the book that talks about FGM made me very uncomfortable and angry. It was horrible to find out that thousands of girls go through all that pain and suffering unnesscarily and it is something that affects them for life. Waris describes how the BBC made a documentary about her life in Somalia and she got to go back and find her mother, who knew nothing of her new life. Waris spoke to Marie Claire magazine about FGM and became a UN ambassador. She is now working hard to try to stop FGM. I really really enjoyed reading this book and I would definatly reccomend it. Its sad but has a happy ending, and also gives an insight into the lives of girls in Africa.