Desert Flower

"Desert Flower" is the title of a book by Warris Dirie, a Somalian woman.
It is a true story and is based around the fascinating childhood she had and the difficulties she had growing up.
The way in which Warris describes her life is heartbreaking and extremly upsetting. I would recomend the book to all girls in secondary schools and also to women in general as these are the people who can relate to Warris and can understand just how much pain she went through.

As part of TY, we decided to read an extract from Desert Flower as our teacher, Mrs Leahy recomended it.

There are many events that happen in Warris' life that make it fascinating however, there is one event that tops them all;

In Somalia, the belief is that there are "bad things" between a girls legs and that she is considered "dirty, oversexed and unmarriageable" unless those parts are removed. A special ritual happens to a girl when she is about ten years old in which these "bad things" are removed by a local gypsy woman. The wound is stiched up leaving a tiny opening and a scar.

This part of the story is extremly upsetting and disturbing and made me feel very sad. It was awfull to think that this still happens to little girls in Somalia today. I don't believe it is right to perform such a ritual.

My favourite part of the extract we read in school is when Warris runs away and finds a tree to sleep under miles away from home. She wakes up to find a huge, hungry lion staring her in the eyes. He licks his lips which shows how hungry he is however, Warris stays still. Eventually the lion faces the fact that she is two small to fill him up. He slowly turns around and walks away. I believe this is a beautifull and extrmely meaningfull part of her life as it suggests that God had a mission for her to do and thats why she survived.

After all the terrible, heartbreaking things that happened to Warris Dieri, her life finaly began to turn around when she moved to england and made a friend who stood by her and wathced over her. One day a famous photographer spotted her and was amazed by her profile and beauty. He gave her his card and told her to call him. After a few weeks, she arranges an appointement with him. She gets beautiful photos taken and this is the start of her new life.
After reading this beatiful biography, i have became more aware of how unfairly women in our world are still treated today and it has made me think lots about how lucky i am. I give my full respect to this fascinating women for what she went through.

She has started her journey of changing the world and making it a better place for women and i stand by her on this desicion.

She truly is, an amazing woman.