She was illiterate, but she found work in the kitchen of a fast-food restaurant and a room in a facility run by the YMCA, and she took classes to learn to read and write English. When his tenure ended, Dirie elected to stay in London illegally. At about age 13 she ran away from home to avoid an arranged marriage with a much older man she embarked on a long and treacherous journey that took her through the desert to Mogadishu and, from there, eventually to London to serve as a maid in the home of an uncle who was beginning a term as an ambassador. Much of Dirie’s childhood was spent tending to the family’s herd and obtaining enough food and water to survive. Waris Dirie, (born 1965, Galcaio, Som.), Somalian fashion model, author, and women’s rights activist known for her efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM), also called female circumcision.ĭirie was one of 12 children born into a large nomadic family living near Somalia’s border with Ethiopia.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |