You wouldn't have thought that in the Somali desert of Africa, a shepherd girl would become an internationally renowned supermodel. But it was such a very ordinary girl who used her feet in the Somali desert to walk out of her supermodel path.
There is a very cruel circumcision ceremony in Somalia, Africa, where when girls are a few years old, they are circumcised by a local female circumciser, cutting off the girl's clitoris and upper and lower genital flaps, and then suturing the wound with a thread.
Due to wound infections coupled with poor medical conditions, many girls lose too much blood after circumcision, which eventually leads to death. In Somalia, no one thinks that circumcision is unreasonable, and if a girl does not circumcise, she will be considered unchaste, even driven out of the village, and will be treated as a prostitute, and they will also bear heavy moral pressure on it.
Wallis was born in the Somali desert of Africa, she was circumcised after the age of 3, after which she developed a high fever due to a wound infection, fortunately she survived, but her two sisters were not so lucky, they both died after the circumcision due to excessive blood loss.
Later, her parents married her to a 60-year-old old man for the bride price of 5 camels, and Wallis was disgusted by her yellow-toothed husband. So, on a silent night, she ran out of the house and rushed into the endless Somali desert.
A professional adventurer would not dare to try to cross the desert easily, let alone be a little girl, but for the sake of freedom, without any supply, she did so. She fed on greenery in the desert, had no water, no shoes, and walked barefoot. Finally, her feet broke the skin, and the blood flowed and dried, condensing into a scar on her feet. Today, even though she has become a supermodel, the scars on her feet have not been removed and have become her life imprint.
Wallis's road to being a supermodel has also been bumpy. When she first arrived in London, she survived by picking up food from the garbage heap, but fortunately, she met many friendly people in her life, and she was kindly taken in by Marilyn in London, treating her like a sister. Marilyn also introduced her to work, and later while mopping the floor in the restaurant, the famous photographer Donaldson discovered her beauty and began her path to supermodel.
However, the damage caused by circumcision to her did not diminish, both physically and psychologically, which brought various restrictions to her life. Circumcision often caused fatal pain in her abdomen, she ran to the hospital, the doctor was shocked by her wounds, but also said that he would help her recover through surgery, and specially invited a Somali male nurse to help convey his concern.
But somali nurses rebuked her, betrayed her family, and betrayed local customs. Wallis ran out of the hospital crying and walked to the window of a shop, she looked through the glass, as if she saw her grandmother's firm and energetic eyes, recalling her grandmother's care and care, she still decided to finish the operation and be an ordinary woman.
Wallis's story attracted international attention, and she was the first woman to publicize the custom of female genital mutilation in Africa and tell people what she really experienced. While lamenting her strong perseverance, people were also shocked by the baptism of this evil in Africa.
Now that Wallis is the United Nations' Special Ambassador, she is now committed to breaking this practice of injustice against women. And speak for women internationally, fighting for more liberation and freedom for women.
Text| Shi Jinshuang Picture | Network Editor| Anecdote