If you haven’t heard the incredible story of Malala Yousafzai you should continue reading or refer to Google immediately and then come back and finish this article. Malala Yousafzai is a 16-year-old education and women’s rights activist from Mingora, Pakistan (Just to note, in Mingora, which is located in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, the Taliban has banned schooling for girls in the past).
Yousafzai has been active since 2009 after starting a blog for the BBC under an alias to document her life under Taliban rule and share her views on education for girls. This led to the New York Times doing a documentary on her in 2010. After the documentary, Yousafzai rose in notoriety doing print and television interviews and eventually being nominated for International Children’s Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu. This was only the beginning.
My fascination with Malala begins last October when the Tablian attempted to assassinate her by shooting her in the back of the head and in the neck, leaving her in critical condition. For most people, let alone a 16-year-old kid, this would quiet their voice but for Yousafzai, this made her message even stronger. Since recovering from the assassination attempt Yousafzai has gone onto further spread the message of education for all children and equality for women.
Earlier this year, the United Nations Special Envoy for Education launched a petition in Malala’s name demanding that all children be in school by the end of 2015. This petition helped in the ratification of Pakistan’s first Right to Education bill. And in April, Time Magazine named her one of their “100 Most Influential People in the World”.
Back to Yousafzai as a person though, for someone barely out of their adolescence to affect this much change within their country and around the world. And also with passion of someone who has lived a full life is absolutely amazing. Her recent appearance on “The Daily Show “gave even more evidence to show how much passion this young woman has, leaving host Jon Stewart speechless after answering the simple question of why she does all that she does.