Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of female genital mutilation, rape, and attempted rape.

“I’d been ready to die. But evidently God, who has always been my best friend, had something else planned, some reason to keep me alive. I said, ‘What is it? Take me—direct me,’ and struggled to my feet.”

This opening anecdote, in which Dirie decides that God has a reason for keeping her alive, alludes to her later activism against FGM. Dirie believes that her life’s purpose is to save the young girls of Africa from FGM and that her modeling career simply provides a platform through which to make her voice heard on this issue.

“Barefoot, and wearing only a scarf draped around me, I ran off into the black desert night. I didn’t know which direction led to Mogadishu, so I just ran.”

At only 13 years old, Dirie runs into the desert, traveling for miles with no possessions, food, or water. Dirie’s resilience through this journey, part of the broader theme of Resilience and Determination, is signaled here, as is her determination to improve her life rather than accepting her betrothal to her father’s 60-year-old friend. Though she doesn’t know what she’s running toward—symbolized by the black desert night—she knows it is better than the future her family has planned for her.

“‘Oh, please, please, no,’ I begged. I wrapped my skinny legs around each other like pretzels and locked them shut. He grappled with me and tried to force them apart. Then, as he wasn’t successful with this attempt, he drew back his hand and slapped me hard across the face. I let out a shrill scream that the air carried away as the truck sped into the night. ‘OPEN YOUR FUCKING LEGS.’”

Dirie is raped as a very young child, and attempted rapes, including this one, happen twice on her journey to Mogadishu. Dirie believes that the culture of FGM is perpetuated by the aggression and ego of men and their desire to control women. She suggests that the culture of rape that exists in Somalia is rooted in this same misogyny, which characterizes women as objects to be used for male pleasure and control.