Poster for Header Desert Flowe

Waris, Dirie

Imprint unknown

U.N. Special Ambassador Waris Dirie was born to a family of tribal nomads in Somalia. She told her storyenduring female circumcision, fleeing through the desert, and, improbably, becoming a top modelin her first book, Desert Flower. In Desert Dawn, she wrote about her return to Somalia and her work as a U.N. Special Ambassador against FGM (female genital mutilation). Her latest book recounts her investigations into the practice of FGM in Europeit is estimated that as many as 500,000 women and girls have undergone FGM or are at risk. Here are the voices of women who have felt emboldened by Waris Dirie’s courage.

Desert Children

Biographies & Memoirs

Virago UK

Waris Dirie ran away from her oppressive life in the African desert when she was barely in her teens, illiterate and impoverished, with nothing to her name but a tattered shawl. She traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu—the first leg of a remarkable journey that would take her to London, where she worked as a house servant; then to nearly every corner of the globe as an internationally renowned fashion model; and ultimately to New York City, where she became a human rights ambassador for the U.N. Desert Flower is her extraordinary story.

DESERT FLOWER

Virago Press

Desert Flower - bk156; Virago Book; Waris Dirie; pocket_book; 1999

Desert Flower

Virago

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 dreams 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 carefree- racing camels and moving on with her family to the next grazing spot - until it came her turn to meet the old woman who administered the ancient custom imposed on most Somalian girls: circumcision. Waris suffered this torture when she was just five years old. Then, aged 12, when her father attempted to arrange 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. Penniless and speaking little English, she became a janitor in McDonalds where she was famously discovered by a fashion photographer. Her story is a truly inspirational and extraordinary self-portrait of a remarkable woman whose spirit is as breathtaking as her beauty.

Fashion model, UN ambassador and courageous spirit, Waris Dirie is a remarkable woman, born into a traditional family of tribal desert nomads in Somalia. She told her story - enduring, at five years old, the ancient and savage custom of female circumcision; running away at twelve on foot through the desert in order to escape an arranged marriage; being discovered by Terence Donovan as she worked as a cleaner in London; and becoming a top fashion model - in her book, the worldwide bestseller, Desert Flower. Although Waris Dirie fled her homeland, she never forgot the country and culture that moulded her. The very world that nearly destroyed her also gave her the tools to survive. She traces the roots of her courage, resilience and humour back to her motherland, and most particularly to her mother. Desert Dawn is the story of that return. Desert Dawn is about coming home.

Desert Dawn

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

Virago Hardbacks

Top model célèbre, ambassadrice de l'ONU chargée des questions de mutilations sexuelles, Waris Dirie a raconté dans Fleur du désert le fabuleux parcours qui l'a menée de la lointaine Somalie à l'univers glacé de la mode. Mais si elle a quitté sa terre natale pour échapper à des coutumes ancestrales et barbares excision, mariage forcé , jamais elle n'a renié ses origines. Waris Dirie n'a pas oublié qu'elle appartient à un peuple aujourd'hui en guerre et victime de la famine. Ce pays qu'elle a rejeté mais qu'elle continue d'aimer, elle a eu envie d'y retourner après vingt ans d'absence. L'aube du désert est l'histoire de ce poignant retour aux sources. C'est aussi le témoignage d'une femme partagée entre deux cultures, qui nous invite à comprendre toute la valeur du mot « différence ». Le bouleversant retour en Somalie de Waris Dirie après vingt ans d'absence.

L'Aube du désert

Jeanne D'Haem

Historical

ALBIN MICHEL

Schwarze Frau, weißes Land

Droemer/knaur

Nomadentochter (German Edition)

Blanvalet Taschenbuchverl

Nomadentochter (German Edtion) by Waris Dirie and Jeanne D'Haem. Translation by Theda Krohm-Linke. 2008 paperback published by Blanvalet. Original English-language title: Desert Dawn. Illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs. Text in German.

Nomadentochter (German Edtion)

Blanvalet Taschenbuch Verlag

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Waris, Dirie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Waris, Dirie

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Waris, Dirie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Poster for Header Desert Flowe

Desert Children

DESERT FLOWER

Desert Flower

Desert Flower

Desert Dawn

L'Aube du désert

Schwarze Frau, weißes Land

Nomadentochter (German Edition)

Nomadentochter (German Edtion)