Week Two
Thursday 26th Febuary
Book :
Desert Flower , The extrodinary life of a desert nomad
Author :
Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
Quote ;
‘I feel that God made my body perfect the way I was born. Then man 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? I just pray that one day no woman will have to experience this pain. It will become a thing of the past. People will say "Did you hear, female genital mutilation has been outlawed in Somalia?" Then the next country, and the next, and so on, until the world is safe for all women. What a happy day that will be, and that's what I'm working toward. In'shallah, if God is willing, it will happen.’ - Warie Dirie
Why you should read this :
This memoir of Waris Dirie (a former supermodel, famous in the 1980's and 1990's) is something that every woman , and in fact man should read. It tells the story of her childhood which she spent in her Somalian tribe where she spent her day lying under the desert sky and living the mysterious life of a nomad. It is told beautifully even when she describes the trauma that every Somalian girl of her time underwent and the heart wrenching abuse that she recieved. She then describes how she escapes this life and finds herself instead now looking up at the brownstone cieling of a New York City appartment persuing a dream with no knowledge of her new world, the language or even the 'moving staircases'. This story is extrodinary - if you need someone to prove to you that anything and everything is possible then this woman can show you.
As well as inspiration this book will open your eyes to some things that you would never believe to still go on today - women are being treated like animals in many far flung lands from our comfy reading corners so please explore ways of helping because unlike Waris Dirie very few will ever be able to help themselves.
Where you should read this :
Looking over the African Savannah, when inspiration is lost.