Waris Dirie

Waris Dirie - a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation. “My mother named me after a miracle of nature: Waris means desert flower. The desert flower blooms in a barren environment where few living things can survive.”- wrote Dirie in her autobiographical book Desert Flower. She was born in 1965 into a nomadic family in the area of Galkayo. When she was 13 she escaped from her family in order to avoid her marriage with a 60-year old man. One of her uncles, who was then Somali ambassador to the United Kingdom, was looking for a maid. So she was brought to London, where she worked at the Somali embassy without pay. When her uncle left London because of Somali civil war, first she lived in the streets and then, she found a house in YMCA. While working in local McDonald’s, at the age of 18 she was discovered by a photographer Mike Goss. He persuaded Waris to model for him. Later Mike helped her to create her portfolio and get connected with model agencies. From there, Dirie's modeling career became successful, she appeared in advertisements for top brands such as Chanel, Levi’s, L’Oreal and etc. In 2002, in Vienna she established the foundation “Desert Flower”. Organization’s aim is to eradicate female genital mutilation worldwide. “I feel that God made my body perfect the way I was born. Then men robbed me, took away my power, and left me a cripple. My womanhood was stolen. If God had wanted those body parts missing, why did he create them?” - writes Dirie. This terrible crime against women is practiced worldwide by Muslims and Christians. According to WHO estimates, every year about 8,000 girls become victims of this brutality. UN secretary general Kofi Annan appointed Waris Dirie as goodwill ambassador in the fight against female genital mutilation. She travels on behalf of the United Nations around the world, participates in conferences, meets presidents, Nobel Prize winners and movie stars and gives hundreds of interviews to draw attention to her mission.

Article by Ana Tvaladze Translated and edited by Mariam Beshidze