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“Hello, I’m Malala. This is my story – and it’s also the story of more than 130 million girls who are denied an education. But we can change that…” – Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai started her passion to give girls and women a voice for education at the age of 11. Malala, now living in the United Kingdom with her family, has lived one heck of a life, but it has not stopped her from fulfilling her dreams.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Activism for Education
Yousafzai, currently attending Oxford University, has always had a passion for learning just like her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai. But in 2008, the Taliban forced the closing of schools in her home country of Pakistan. In early 2009, she started blogging for the BBC about living under the Taliban’s threats to her education under a pen name to protect her identity.
She continued to speak out about her right, and the rights of all women, to an education. When Malala was 14-years-old, she won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize.
However, her activism was not celebrated by everyone. The Yousafzai family learned the Taliban issued a death threat for Malala for her activism.
Shot by the Taliban
In October 2012, Malala was riding the bus home from school, when a masked gunman boarded the bus demanding to know which girl was Malala. Her friends looked at her, giving away her location and identity. The gunman shot Malala in the head. She was 15-years-old at the time.
She was flown to the hospital in critical condition and a portion of her skull had to be removed to treat her swelling brain. She was transferred to Birmingham, England for treatment, where she underwent several surgeries. She miraculously suffered no major brain damage.
In March 2013, she was able to return to school, now in Birmingham.
Life after the Attack
After the vicious and malicious attack, her first public appearance was at the United Nations where she spoke on her 16th birthday. The U.N. made July 12th “Malala Day”. She then promised them to dedicate this day to raising awareness of “the world’s most vulnerable girls.”
In 2013, a year after her horrific experience, she and her father set up the Malala Fund, which is an organization dedicated to giving girls the right to a fair education.
Photo: Biography
In December 2014, Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is officially the youngest-ever Nobel Laureate.
Malala has created awareness of the lack of education that girls receive by meeting with presidents, prime ministers, and other strong leaders of the world and sharing the stories of people from around the world. She is one woman with such a large passion and continues to advocate for the betterment of others’ lives.
Photo: obamawhitehouse.archives.org
Malala once said, “I don’t want to be remembered as the girl who was shot. I want to be remembered as the girl who stood up.”
If you are interested in donating to the Malala Fund, go to her website, www.malala.org and help young girls receive the education they deserve.