Waris had a hard life. She grew up in Somalia looking after sheep and goats. When she was 3 years old she was genitally mutilated. When she was 12 or 13, she was going to be sold off to an old man to marry him, for a camel. In Somalia at this time young girls were an equal trading price of one camel. Shocking. Waris decided to run away to the city where she was then sent to the UK to work in the Somalian embassy over there.
She found a new friend and got a job in a fast food restaurant where she was discovered by one of the top fashion photographers at that time. He was drawn to her beauty and approached her. She accepted his offer and joined a model agency. As Waris was working her way up in the modelling business, she still had struggles. She faced deportation and quickly married a friend of hers so she could remain in the UK. She also became quite ill and learnt that the way she had been treated (getting genitally mutilated) was not right and that it doesn't happen to everyone. She was angry and upset. When she became a very successful model, she used her fame to speak out against gender inequality and let her incredible story out to the world so that everyone would know what was really going on. Since, she has been campaigning very hard and Female Genital Mutilation has been banned in Somalia.
When you think about all the work one woman has done, it would be amazing to see what could be done if gender equality is accepted and practised universally. This story is inspirational and educational. I learnt a lot from watching the movie and I would definitely recommend that everyone watches it at some stage, or reads the book!
