Waris Dirie (the name means desert flower) lives a double life - by day she is a
famous model and UN spokeswoman on women's rights in Africa, at night she dream
s of her native Somalia. Waris, one of 12 children, was born into a traditional
family of desert nomads in East Africa. She remembers her early childhood as car
efree- racing camels and moving on with her family to the next grazing spot - un
til it came her turn to meet the old woman who administered the ancient custom i
mposed on most Somalian girls: circumcision.
Waris suffered this torture when
she was just five years old. Then, aged 12, when her father attempted to arrang
e 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.
