and i'm, you know, thinking back and i'm just smiling, remembering those days. it's interesting because london, in a sense, made you, certainly made you as one of the world's most famous, most wanted models. you got spotted by a photographer. again, luck. he handed pictures to a modelling agency, who loved your look. and before you knew it, while i think you were still in your late—teen age, you were being... i was just a little girl, young girl, yeah. yeah, you were being taken to paris, to new york. before long, you were the face of chanel, you were modelling on the catwalks. and i'm also mindful that you were still this young girl who had internalised so much trauma in somalia. how did the two things fit together? see, that's the thing. i can sit here and really say i am gratefulfor where i was
born, and how my life was. and i tell you... ..the respect, the knowledge, the passion i have for life, i don't think i would have that if i was born, let's say, right here in london. and there is something that no matter what, you know, what you go through in life, you learn something each — each step, you learn something new in life. and some you appreciate, and some you move on from it. and i love life. and i'm determined to do whatever i wanted to do without a man in my life. that speaks to your determination, but i also want to dig away at something you said in an interview once, which seemed to me very candid and troubling. you said, "actually, somewhere deep within me, "i felt half—empty, "even during these years of great success." yes, because... well, a few things.
what is going on here? like, what am i? you know, itjust was... it just absolutely became determination, every power i had, to show i can do my life, i can live without you telling me what to do and what to be. and when you ran, did your father try to track you down? yes. he chased me for quite... ..three days in the desert, following my footstep. but he couldn't get it. he couldn't catch me. he... he gave up and went back. you... you definitely outfoxed him. 0h, idid. what got you to london was a family connection... yes. ..and you had an uncle who was actually ambassador for somalia in london. harley street, right here. yeah. and he offered you a job, to go with him to london as a sort of maid/cleaner. you took it. and as a teenager in london, you were able, then, to stay. even when he returned, you did menialjobs. i think you worked in fast
countries have the law against this and criminalise — but they do not really criminalise women. here, england, london, there was a law against fgm since 1985. and the first—ever person prosecuted was, what, a few years ago, two years? so, law is a law, it's another thing. but practise and following the law and respecting the law is another. there is an argument — and maybe this is relevant to your situation because you were born in somalia, but as we've discussed, you've lived your adult life in the western world and you've been in a pretty rarefied world of modelling and catwalks, and movie—making, and then writing books and making documentaries — you know, you've moved a long way, literally and metaphorically, from the nomadic existence in somalia. and some people say, and i'm not going to quote westerners at you, but i'm going to quote one african woman at you. she's a doctor in kenya,
and i'm also mindful that you were still this young girl who had internalised so much trauma in somalia. how did the two things fit together? see, that's the thing. i can sit here and really say i am gratefulfor where i was born, and how my life was. and i tell you... ..the respect, the knowledge, the passion i have for life, i don't think i would have that if i was born, let's say, right here in london. and there is something that no matter what, you know, what you go through in life, you learn something each — each step, you learn something new in life. and some you appreciate, and some you move on from it. and i love life. and i'm determined to do whatever i wanted to do without a man in my life.
..and you had an uncle who was actually ambassador for somalia in london. harley street, right here. yeah. and he offered you a job, to go with him to london as a sort of maid/cleaner. you took it. and as a teenager in london, you were able, then, to stay. even when he returned, you did menialjobs. i think you worked in fast food and in cleaning... yeah, all the... a few fast—food places. couldn't speak the language, couldn't read or write, had no—one i could run to stay with... but at the same time, i felt the most freedom ever. i felt so free. ifelt i could do and be anything. i wasn't worried at all. and almost always, that feeling of "i can do anything" is a little bit of a cliche and doesn't come true. but for you, the extraordinary happened. you think it's cliche, but it's... it's really the truth. anything you want to do, you really... mean that much to you. i don't think it takes
who still appear to be supportive of continuation of fgm. yes. that's a huge hurdle to overcome. it is...no, it's not. no, baby, ican�*t, no, no, no, no. because it's, i mean... from 28 countries to four countries, ok, it took a little while. and, although even those countries have the law against this and criminalise — but they do not really criminalise women. here, england, london, there was a law against fgm since 1985. and the first—ever person prosecuted was, what, a few years ago, two years? so, law is a law, it's another thing. but practise and following the law and respecting the law is another. there is an argument — and maybe this is relevant to your situation because you were born in somalia, but as we've discussed, you've lived your adult life in the western world and you've
that much of an effort, because it's. .. but it does take something called luck. and you had luck. i had — well, then, you can call me, all my life, a luck, which i tell people, "my middle name is luck." and i do not know how i sometimes — i was walking down this morning in the street, and i know every corner of the streets. and i'm, you know, thinking back and i'm just smiling, remembering those days. it's interesting because london, in a sense, made you, certainly made you as one of the world's most famous, most wanted models. you got spotted by a photographer. again, luck. he handed pictures to a modelling agency, who loved your look. and before you knew it, while i think you were still in your late—teen age, you were being... i was just a little girl, young girl, yeah. yeah, you were being taken to paris, to new york. before long, you were the face of chanel, you were modelling on the catwalks.
they can't do this. they can't talk like this. you can't dress like this. you can't do anything, this. you are girl." and every question i ask, "but i still can do this, even if i'm a girl," was, "no, no, no, no, no, no. don't even think about it. go away, go away." and i just want an explanation, what is going on here? like, whatam i? you know, itjust was... it just absolutely became determination, every power i had, to show i can do my life, i can live without you telling me what to do and what to be. and when you ran, did your father try to track you down? yes. he chased me for quite... ..three days in the desert, following my footstep. but he couldn't get it. he couldn't catch me. he... he gave up and went back. you... you definitely outfoxed him. 0h, idid. what got you to london was a family connection... yes.
to paris, to new york. before long, you were the face of chanel, you were modelling on the catwalks. and i'm also mindful that you were still this young girl who had internalised so much trauma in somalia. how did the two things fit together? see, that's the thing. i can sit here and really say i am gratefulfor where i was born, and how my life was. and i tell you... ..the respect, the knowledge, the passion i have for life, i don't think i would have that if i was born, let's say, right here in london. and there is something that no matter what, you know, what you go through in life, you learn something each — each step, you learn something new in life. and some you appreciate, and some you move on from it. and i love life.