Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad

Desert Flower is the powerful story of the life of Somali supermodel Waris Dirie, who is now a UN spokesperson campaigning against female genital mutilation. It starts from her very humble, but happy beginnings tending sheep and goats, her horrific circumcision at age 5, her running away from home to escape an arranged marriage to a geriatric at age 12, through to her getting to London and stumbling into modeling quite by accident. Along the way, there were lots of events and signs in her life to tell her there was a bigger purpose to her life. Like her being spared from a lion in the desert. There is also lots of fun and humour; Her naiveté on seeing modern everyday utilities, her bumping into Iman and a young unknown insecure Naomi Campbell, her being a Donna Summer fan and flubbing her lines on the TV show Soul Train. Her finding love, the birth of her precious son, and her eventual reunion with her mother. Oh, there are loads of stunning photos too, she is a supermodel after all. Through all the pain and hardship in her life, she came through strong and not bitter against those who mistreated her. A real class act and an inspiration. Desert Flower is a stunning and moving story which everyone should read.

It naturally just goes to your heart. The language is simple and honest, so you can read the book in a day or two. Her story was just remarkable and the book was well-written. People should be made aware of FGM and its effects. They should know that it exists. I particularly liked the way she ended the book. She says that if the existance of FGM has any meaningful explanation, maybe she would think twice about denouncing it...but this practice has no significant reason to exist what so ever! There were, however, too many "In Africa..." generalizations in the book. FGM is not ubiquitous in Africa, in fact, most Africans don't even know that it's there. It is just concentrated mainly in East African countries like Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Djibouti, and some areas in West Africa like Mali for example. I loved the book. Everyone should read it!

Waris Dirie is from Somalia, home of some of the most beautiful women in the world, many of whom become supermodels like the famous Iman and Dirie herself. This book is a story of her desert semi-nomad life, the story of the horrifying practice of Pharonic circumcision of women that she suffered, and Dirie's escape from several oppressive situations ultimately to a better life. The practice of female circumcision or FGM (female genital multilation) is not well-understood by Europeans and Americans. The practice, though not ordained by the Koran, is common in parts of Islamic Africa. It may have had tribal origins before some of the lands became Islamic. Dirie gives a blunt description of the primitive practice that leads to the death of many girls and to constant pain and suffering for those who survive it. In addition to the story of FGM, Dirie also tells how she escaped her engagment to a man she didn't know, how she got to London to live with relatives, only to escape virtual enslavement and ended up working at a MacDonalds. From there, fame and success. This book is written well, in a plain but well-told style. In addition to enlightening people about FGM, it tells a story of great courage.

Waris Dirie tells us the extraordinary story of her life, beginning as a nomad in Africa, her escape on foot thru the desert from the prospect of an arranged marriage, going first to the city where her sister lived, then to England, where she knew not a word of the language, and finally to America. She became an internationally famous model, learned to speak English, got married, divorced, and remarried, and finally became a spokeswoman for the United Nations against female genital mutilation. The story of her life is fascinating, but the genital mutilation she and her sisters suffered is disgusting. Dirie relates that no man of her native culture would want to marry a woman who had not been mutilated in such a way as to make it impossible for her to feel the intense pleasure of sexual intercourse. Thus mutilated, she supposedly cannot be tempted by other men. Many young girls die from infections contracted from unsanitary instruments used in this barbarous procedure. Both men and women there are really missing out on the joy they could have, were men to give women the respect they deserve. Such a man may experience orgasm, but he can never experience the far greater joy of knowing that he has given the greatest and most intense pleasure to someone he deeply loves and respects. If I were married to a woman so mutilated, I would feel sorely cheated because I could never give her the pleasure I would want her to have. Like the Texas oilman who married a much younger wife and was warned that she would soon take on other lovers, I would rather own five percent of a gusher than lock, stock, and barrel of a dry hole. I hope Dirie's husband will always be loving, thoughtful, and kind to her, because after the hell she has been thru, she deserves all the happiness he can give her, and then some. Her story is an inspiration, but at the same time it is a challenge to the rest of us to do what we can to end the horrible practise of female genital mutilation. [email protected]

We were very impressed by reading this book and learning about such an extraordinary life as Waris had. Once we began reading we could hardly stop because her story is so fascinating and moving. Her way of telling about her whole life is quite simple and very emotional. We often wondered about the fact of having as much luck as Waris had. But in the end we couldn`t decide if her life really was full of luck. There have been many hard times for her and her courage to overcome all these difficulties is admirable. She has been in very bad situations and her way of dealing with them shows her different mentality. As a conclusion we`d like to say that we are glad to have read "Desert Flower" in our English lesson because this book is not one to read and forget about. It tells the true story of a fascinating life.