"When the whole world is silent , even one voice becomes
powerful."
"Let us pick up our books and pencils , they are our most
powerful weapons...."
These are a few of many quotes by the amazing 18 year old Malala Yousafzai who has completely changed the way
many of us look at the world. Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12th 1997 in
Mingora, Pakistan. She is an activist for female rights and education.
On October 9, 2012, on her way home from school, a man boarded the
bus Malala was riding in and demanded to know which girl was Malala. When her
friends looked toward Malala, her identity was given away. The gunman fired at
her, hitting Malala in the left side of her head; the bullet then travelled
down her neck. she received specialist treatment and had a titanium plate
fitted as well as a cochlear implant in her skull to help her hear.
However, this attack did not stop her from campaigning for
girls education. She often quotes in her speeches that she has no anger or hatred
toward the man who shot her. She said, “ I often feared that what would happen
if someone tried to attack me, but now I am fearless . The worst that
could have happened has already occurred nothing can now stop me in this
movement of empowering girls with the right of quality education in my country
and many others.”
Malala is the youngest recipient of the Nobel peace prize which
she shared with Kailash Satyarthi in the year 2014 , who is also a children’s
rights activist. Even though she has been campaigning for girls rights since a
long time , she came into public recognition very recently after her Nobel
prize win.
She began attending Edgbaston High School in March and her father
has been given a job with the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham for three
years. Malala marked her 18th Birthday by inaugurating her “Malala Yousafzai
All-Girls School” near the Syrian border, which will provide quality secondary
education to more than 200 Syrian girls living in informal camps and out of
school in the Bekaa Valley region.
The efforts taken by Malala are a pathway to a significant
movement . on one hand students like us are privileged to have such quality
education where as in some parts of the world , children don’t even go to
school. Malala is not just an inspiration to the youth of this country and many
others , but she is the voice of those 66 million girls who are deprived of
quality education.
During her speech at the Nobel prize acceptance ceremony she
quoted “Why is it so easy to give guns , and so difficult to give books , why
is it so easy to make tanks , But so difficult to build schools.” this
statement just goes to signify that by educating , we can empower
“One child , One teacher , One book , and One pen has the power to
change the world”-
Malala Yousafzai.
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