The savior of girls
Early Years |
On July 12, 1997, Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan, located in the country's Swat Valley |
Her hometown used to be filled with tourist that came to see it's beauty for many years but it finished once the Taliban attacked.
She lived with two brothers, two parents Ziauddin Yousafzai and Tor Pekai as well as two chickens. Her name meaning "grief-stricken" was after Malalaii of Maiwand, a famous Pashtun poetess and warrior woman from southern Afghanistan. Her last name Yousafzai is that of a large Pashtun tribal confederation that is predominant in Pakistan's Swat Valley.
She lived with two brothers, two parents Ziauddin Yousafzai and Tor Pekai as well as two chickens. Her name meaning "grief-stricken" was after Malalaii of Maiwand, a famous Pashtun poetess and warrior woman from southern Afghanistan. Her last name Yousafzai is that of a large Pashtun tribal confederation that is predominant in Pakistan's Swat Valley.
Her First Trademarks
Malala started looking for change when she first started by planning a speech towards girls education. Her father Ziauddin Yousafzai was founder of a school in her hometown where she attended. She made a speech about the Taliban taking girls right from education in a press club. It was in Peshawar, Pakistan that September in 2008. She named it "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?"
In the start of 2009 she was invited by BBC to do a blog under the name Gul Makai that made her blog in diary entry way her day under the rule of the Taliban. Though she couldn't hide her identity anymore the December that year when her name was revealed.
Malala and her father were then invited for an interview with the New York Times and talk to one of it's reporters Adam B. Ellick about filming a documentary. That May the army moved to Peshawar and she moved to the countryside to her relatives while her father went to protest in Peshawar. Then her dad got a death threat on the radio from a Taliban commander which started Malala's desire to act towards what she want's.
She had been nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and won her country's National Youth Peace Prize. As well as the National Peace Award For Youth by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.
In the start of 2009 she was invited by BBC to do a blog under the name Gul Makai that made her blog in diary entry way her day under the rule of the Taliban. Though she couldn't hide her identity anymore the December that year when her name was revealed.
Malala and her father were then invited for an interview with the New York Times and talk to one of it's reporters Adam B. Ellick about filming a documentary. That May the army moved to Peshawar and she moved to the countryside to her relatives while her father went to protest in Peshawar. Then her dad got a death threat on the radio from a Taliban commander which started Malala's desire to act towards what she want's.
She had been nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and won her country's National Youth Peace Prize. As well as the National Peace Award For Youth by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.
The Attempt of Assassination
On 9 October 2012, a Taliban gunman shot Yousafzai as she rode home on a bus after taking an exam in Pakistan's Swat Valley. The masked gunman shouted "Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all", all the girl's pointed at her and he shooted three times. Sadly she was hit with one bullet that went through her head and neck but ended up in her shoulder. Two other girls were also wounded from the other shoots that hit Kainat Riaz and Shazia Ramzan.
Malala was in a critical condition and was flown to a military hospital in Peshawar where a portion of her skull was removed so her brain wouldn't swell up. She was then taken to a hospital in Birmingham, England where she was taken out of a medical induced coma. She then began to require many surgeries like the repair of her facial nerve to repair the paralyzed left of her face but luckily she suffered no major brain damage.
She then started to go to school March of 2013.
Malala was in a critical condition and was flown to a military hospital in Peshawar where a portion of her skull was removed so her brain wouldn't swell up. She was then taken to a hospital in Birmingham, England where she was taken out of a medical induced coma. She then began to require many surgeries like the repair of her facial nerve to repair the paralyzed left of her face but luckily she suffered no major brain damage.
She then started to go to school March of 2013.
After
Malala gave a speech on her 16th birthday to the United Nations in 2013 and wrote her own book. It was named "I am Malala : the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban. Though the Taliban's threats were still active Malala never left her fight towards girls education. On October 10, 2013 the European Parliament awarded Malala her the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought due to her work. That year she was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't win the prize, but was nominated again in March 2014. That August of the same year, Leanin.org held a live chat on Facebook with Sheryl Sandberg and Malala about the education for girls around the world and it's importance. She talked about her story, her inspiration and family, her plans for the future and advocacy. In October 2014, Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as the Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. At the age 17, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.