Desert Flower - From a shepherdess to a world-famous model, she saved 130 million women

In 1965, Waris Dili was born in a herder tribe in the Somali desert in Africa. Waris' family had 12 children, but only 6 survived.

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When it comes to Somalia, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is pirates? Or poverty and backwardness? Wallis was born in that desert that was nearly isolated from the world. Poverty, drought, and turbulent times accompanies everyone's life; hunger has become a daily routine, and survival is the only goal.

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When she was 5 years old, Wallis was forced to undergo a long-standing ancient custom: circumcision. Her mother held her in her arms, and the circumciser ignored her cries. Struggling, holding the scissors in his hand, he performed the circumcision mercilessly, without anesthesia or pain relief, and the blood stained the pile of stones on the ground red. After the circumcision, Wallis was in a coma for two days before she woke up.

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Circumcision has been popular in Somalia for thousands of years. Somalis believe that the thing between a woman’s legs is unclean and the source of sin and must be cut off. Therefore, when a Somali girl is about 3 years old, she will be sent to a circumciser for circumcision, accompanied by heartbreaking cries.

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After circumcision, girls will suffer a lot of pain and torture throughout their lives. There is only a small hole left in the woman's lower body. When urinating, the urine can only flow out drop by drop. It takes more than ten minutes each time and is extremely painful. Every month when I get my period, it is even worse than death, and I suffer all kinds of torture. Until the wedding night, the husband can cut it with a knife or a razor blade to ensure "virginity".

When she was 12 years old, her father married her off to a 69-year-old man as his fourth wife in exchange for five camels. On the day before the wedding, Hualis cried to her mother that she did not want to marry. To the old man, but the mother just shed tears silently. The family could no longer afford to support so many children. With no hope of seeking help, Wallis ran away overnight. Her mother heard her footsteps and let her go without stopping.

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She fled to the desert alone, running as hard as she could with bare feet, and her feet were scarred from walking. Wallis did not stop, she kept walking, running and eating. She ate tree bark, gnawed leaves, and slept on the ground, which was cracked by the sun. She had not drank water for several days, and walked for several days and nights. Finally, relying on her vague memory, she crossed the desert and found her grandmother's house.

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When grandma saw Wallis coming here alone across the desert, she was surprised and distressed. This was the will of Allah, which allowed her to survive. But grandma couldn't take in Hua Lisi, because she was afraid that Hua Lisi's father would find her here. In desperation, grandma arranged for her to work as a maid at her aunt's place. Waris's aunt is the wife of the Somali Embassy in London, where it is at least temporarily safe to go there.

Her uncle was the ambassador of Somalia to the UK at the time, and Wallis followed their family and left the hometown that gave her painful memories.

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Wallis worked as a maid there for nine years. She did housework, laundry and cooking every day, listened to TV programs, and learned some simple English. Life here It was completely new to her. She thought she could live peacefully like this, but she didn't expect that the civil war in Somalia broke out, the embassy in the UK was withdrawn, and Wallis's aunt and uncle had to leave the UK and return to Somalia.

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But Wallis didn’t want to go back to that terrible desert, so she took her passport and ran out secretly.

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Wallis is living on the street. She has no relatives or friends. She is alone and helpless. She became an illegal resident in the UK, with no identity and no knowledge of English. When I feel hungry during the day, I go to the trash can to find leftovers to eat; when I feel sleepy at night, I pick up a cardboard box and sleep on the side of the road.

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Even though she lived a life of living on the streets, Hua Lisi never thought about going back to the hometown that scared her, and what kind of fate she would suffer. suffering? She didn't know, she only knew that on such days, she was free.

After wandering in the UK for a while, Wallis met a girl named Marilyn. The girl did not look like a bad person. Wallis begged the girl to take her in for a night. The kind-hearted Marilyn , took her home.

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She originally thought that she would just keep Wallis for one night and send her away the next day. When Marilyn woke up the next morning, she found that Wallis After tidying up the room and making a cup of hot coffee, Marilyn relented. She recommended a job for Wallis to work in a restaurant. It was while working in the restaurant that Wallis met the noble person in her life.

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But Wallis had no idea who this man named Donovan was. She thought he was a liar and asked for him casually. Throwing the business card into the trash can, Donovan quickly gave it to Wallis again and told her that she could come to him at any time when she figured it out.

When Wallis returned to her residence after get off work, she found that Marilyn had brought a man back, and the two were doing indescribable things in the room. Wallis felt very ashamed.

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After the man left, Wallis accused Marilyn, saying that she was a bad woman and that this was wrong. Wallis showed Marilyn her private parts. , she believes that only a circumcised woman can remain a virgin for her new husband and is a good woman. Wallis even believes that all women should be circumcised.

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After Marilyn saw Hualisi’s body, she could not imagine what kind of pain it was. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she told Hualisi with great distress. , women here do not have to be circumcised. She showed her body to Wallis, who was shocked. She didn't expect that the tradition she had adhered to for so many years was a bad habit that had long been despised.

Marilyn finally knew why Wallis spent so much time every time she went to the bathroom, and what kind of pain she had experienced?

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That day, Wallis suddenly huddled together in pain. Marilyn quickly took Wallis to the hospital. Wallis spread her legs and put them on a shelf. The doctor looked at her. After treating Hua Lisi, he told her that she must have surgery immediately. The cut part could not be restored, but it could be guaranteed that it would not hurt again in the future. Since the doctor couldn't communicate with Waris in English, he called another male caregiver who knew Somali. However, the male caregiver actually told Waris a completely different meaning than what the doctor asked him to translate. The nurse said, as a woman, how can she let a male doctor see her private parts? It is such a shameful thing and it goes against tradition. Do you know? Does your family know?

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Hualis was in great pain after hearing his words. She jumped off the operating table and left the hospital. A person was walking on the street when she saw a woman wrapped in a headscarf in a shop window. Those eyes reminded her of her mother. Her mother did not stop her from running away. Even though she would be beaten up by her father, she let Hualis escape. Only Escape can change your destiny. Hua Lisi understood that her mother hoped that she could use her hands and feet to change her destiny. Hua Lisi suddenly understood her mother's hope, and she returned to the hospital to have the operation that was called despicable.

Wallis went to find Donovan, who gave her his business card, because she heard that being a model would make more money than being a waiter. Wallis didn’t know at the time that her life A huge turning point is about to come.

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Terrence Donovan once represented the best photography in the British fashion industry, creating and leading the cultural trend of Britain in the 1960s.

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In 1987, under the leadership of Donovan, Wallis appeared on the cover of the "Pirelli Calendar" that year.

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You know, this is the honor that many models dream of, and it is a milestone in their careers, and Wallis has set such a high starting point as soon as she debuted.

However, when Waris was preparing for a global tour, her manager found Waris angrily because her passport had expired for several years, which meant that Waris would be deported back to Somalia. .

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When Hua Lisi was distressed, Xiaobai, a man who had been secretly in love with her for a long time, appeared. He proposed to Hua Lisi and said that as long as she married him, she would get permanent residency. In desperation, Wallis agreed to a fake marriage with him. Due to having to deal with the inspection by the Immigration Bureau, Xiaobai and Hua Lisi had to live together. During a surprise inspection in the middle of the night, Xiao Bai kissed Hua Lisi in front of the Immigration Bureau people, finally making everyone believe that they were real. Get married together.

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Soon Hua Lisi’s visa was issued. After that, Hua Lisi’s modeling career went smoothly and soared all the way. There were signs on the roadside and advertisements on TV. All are Wallis. From escaping from the Somali desert in Africa to wandering on the streets of England to working as a waiter in a fast food restaurant, within a few years, Wallis became the darling of the fashion industry and the most dazzling "black pearl" in the white world.

She moved out of the simple hotel and moved into a luxurious suite that did not require cleaning, but deep down in her heart, she always felt inferior.

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After that, Wallis gave up her flourishing modeling career and devoted herself to "anti-circumcision" In her charity work, she will use her own strength to resist this bad habit that has devastated women for countless centuries. Even if a person has limited power, she must fight to the end.

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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan personally awarded Wallis the title of United Nations Special Envoy against Circumcision; the African Union appointed Wallis as Peace Ambassador; she was also elected as Forbes 30 One of the global female role models.

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Wallis was even invited to the United Nations to deliver a speech to the world: "When I was a child, I said I didn't want to be a woman. Why should I be in such pain? So unhappy? Now that I am an adult, I am proud of myself, but for the sake of everyone, let us work to change the destiny of women, who are the backbone of Africa. If we can abolish this unreasonable custom , I don’t know how many times this continent will be richer and stronger than it is now.”

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Wallis expressed her vision with tears in her eyes, and everyone in the audience was silent. They could not empathize with her, but they just felt sorry for these women who had been ruined by evil customs. Until now, there are still many women facing the evil custom of circumcision. If you can't change these, then try to change your destiny.

This is a true story. In the autobiography "Desert Flower" of the same name by the world famous model Wallis Dirie, Wallis not only saved the bodies of female compatriots, but also saved the lives of female compatriots. Soul, she used her personal experience to tell everyone that as a woman, you can live a more meaningful life.