Waris Dirie, a former Somalian model, wrote a book (Desert Flower, which is the meaning of her name) that highlighted the horrors she faced as a 13 year old child forced into a marriage to a 61 year old man.  This after having had to deal with female genital mutilation at the age of 5.

Determined not to allow this to rule her destiny, she picked herself up and ran to her sister’s house where she was shuttled between her house and those of various aunts and uncles.  One of her uncles moved to London and she went there to work for him.  While in London, she stayed with an aunt who was a good friend of Iman’s mother.

Terence Donovan discovered her and placed her face on a 1987 Pirelli Calendar, launching her into a highly successful modeling career. She graced the catwalks in Milan, London, and Pari, and is listed as one of Revlon’s most beautiful women in the world.  She even got to be a Bond girl in the movie ‘The Living Daylights‘.

She left the modeling world to pursue her passion to stop Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and penned 4 books in the process (Desert Flower, Desert Dawn, Desert Children, and Letter To My Mother).  The recipient of several awards including the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, the Prix des Générations 2007, and the 2007 Martin Buber Award, to name a few.

In March 2008 she was reported meeting, raising fears that she had befallen the same fate as Katoucha Niane.  Fortunately she was found three days later and stated that she had been abducted by a taxi driver who had bound and hurt her.  The statements are still under investigation.

To learn more about this model turned activist, visit her foundation’s website.