Malala Yousafzai, the Girl who Fought for Education

Rija Awan

Language Arts
4th hr

Malala Yousafzai, the Girl who Fought for Education

Imagine living in a small valley in Pakistan, where the Taliban are controlling you and
your people. You can barely go out without being extremely cautious, for you never know when
the Taliban will strike.Girls and some boys cannot attend school. Everyday, you wake up to the
excruciating screams of people, being tortured for not following the rules of this group . No one
speaks up for their rights, except for Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani school girl who almost
sacrificed her life to get education for girls and boys living in poverty. I started thinking about
that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, If
he comes, what would you do Malala? then I would reply to myself, Malala, just take a shoe
and hit him. But then I said, If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference
between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you
must fight for others but through peace and through dialogue and through education. Then I
said I will tell him how important education and that I even want education for your children as
well. And I will tell him, Thats what I want to tell you, now do what you want. Believe it or not,
these wise words came from a 16 year old girl who fought for childrens education all over the
world. Because she stood up for childrens education she was shot and put into critical
condition. Malala Yousafzai inspired millions of people and has proved to be one of the most
influential people in history.
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12th 1997. As a young girl she loved to learn and had
a passion for it. Her father, Ziauddin also was an activist for education and the principal of the all
girls school Malala attended. The small swat valley that Malala lived in had been taken over by
the Taliban and issued an edict banning girls from attending school. Not pleased with this rule,
at the age of 11, Malala was writing for a blog called Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl. This blog
was about how her life was under the control of the Taliban. She still went to school everyday

knowing that her life was in danger. On October 9th, as she made her way home on the school
bus, a Talib came onto the bus and asked for Malala. The girls pointed at her and the Talib shot
her in the head for speaking out for the rights of girls to be educated. Malala was rushed to the
hospital only to find out that she was in very critical condition. She had to get her skull replaced
by a titanium plate, and get a cochlear implant in her left ear. She also had large amounts of
nerve damage on her left cheek. The doctors werent fully sure that she would make it and
neither did she. But she knew one thing, she wasnt going to stop standing up for what she
believed in.
Though she is still only a teen, Malala has accomplished many things in her life. When
she was just 11, Malala gave a speech in Peshwar, Pakistan at a local press meeting telling the
gathered journalists: How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education? Even at a
young age, Malala stood up for her education, and for what she believed in. Less than a year
after the attack that nearly killed her, Malala stood at a special United Nations General
Assembly and gave her first public speech since her ordeal. It was there when she said of her
most famous sayings, one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.
Malala has also written an autobiography called I Am Malala, the Girl who Stood for Education
and was Shot by the Taliban. Her autobiography won the Specsavers National Book award.
Malala has also been nominated for the International Childrens Peace Prize and the Nobel
Peace Prize (In which she was the youngest person ever nominated). She has also been
awarded by the European Parliament the Sahkarov Prize for Freedom of Thought and the
Pakistans National Youth Peace Prize. She has been named one of the most 10 influential
people in the world (higher than Barack Obama). Although she has been nominated and has
won many awards, she states My goal is not to get a Nobel Peace Prize, it is to get peace.
This truly shows how anyone from anywhere can help change the world for the better.
Though Malala has accomplished many things, the best thing she has accomplished is
her impact on the world around her. Malala has sparked a dialogue about childrens education

throughout the world. When a BBC journalist asked Malalas father to recommend a teacher or
student willing to document the terror, no one volunteered - except his own daughter. She taught
us all to stand up for what we believe in, but she especially impacted her own fellow classmates.
Outside the door of her own classroom is a framed newspaper cutting about her. Inside, her
best friend Moniba has written the name Malala on a chair placed in the front door. Not only to
remember her, but also because she was the girl fighting for their rights for education.
Malala also impacted many people from a speech in which she said to herself before
she was shot, Malala you must be brave. You must not be afraid of anyone, you are only trying
to get an education - you are not committing a crime. Even though the Taliban said that girls
couldnt go to school, she still went to school with her classmates,and while coming back from
school that horrific day, she got shot. She taught us to never give up on what you love and
made us realize to be thankful for the things that we take for granted like school and our
security. Once Malala was in the hospital, a scan revealed a life-threatening situation, her brain
was swelling dangerously and she would need immediate surgery. Once she recovered, the
doctors said that her own resilience and determination helped her to make an outstanding
recovery, this impacted us because even through all of the problems she had, she overcame
them and taught us that we should do the same.
In addition, Malala has recently launched the Malala Fund, which will support 40
Pakistani girls through school. She also plans to expand the fund to other regions such as Syria,
Afghanistan, and Nigeria. This taught us that we can always have a bigger impact than you
think.
The former British Prime Minister had no doubt about her power to focus attention on the
bigger picture of nearly 60 million out of school children around the world. Because of Malala,
he says, There is a public understanding that something is wrong and has got to be done.
Malala had inspired the British Prime Minister to do something about the many children around
the world who have no school. Tarek Fatah, a Pakistani-born Canadian writer, broadcaster and

a secular, progressive and liberal activist, was so inspired by Malala that he put up a petition
asking the Nobel Foundation to select Malala for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. Within the 1st
week, he had 40,000 signatures.
Malala also inspired Julie Fine, a senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, to
become an activist. She became co-president of her schools club Girls Unite, which is a group
that sponsors the education of 60 girls in Mali and lobbies congress annually to increase foreign
aid for education. She also became involved with the International Day of the Girl Child as the
Day of the Girl U.S youth outreach coordinator so she could speak to more girls about issues
like education. This shows that Malala not only inspired world-known people, but also regular
people like Julie Fine to make a change.
She also caused the UN to recommit to Millennium Development Goal 2, which states,
By 2015 everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary
schooling. Just imagine how many girls and boys she will help by causing the UN to recommit
the goal. Malala also signed the UN Girl Declaration. The UN Girl Declaration is a call to action
for girls all over the world to speak up on the behalf of girls who do not have a voice. In addition,
Malala has created an education petition which reached an enormous 3 million signatures
calling for urgent action to support girls' education. This petition impacted Italys Nobel Peace
Prize winner Dario Fo who painted a beautiful picture of Malala and called on all Italian leaders
to respond to the petition. Not only did she impact Dario, she impacted many others from
around the world. These people have created Malala Day in which 500 young people from
dozens of countries come to share their visions on how to improve access to education.
Malalas actions have led to millions of people now knowing about children who are uneducated,
and has encouraged them to take part in helping these children all around the world.
Give me strenght and courage, I want to make this world perfect. Says Malala. The 16
year old hasnt made the world perfect, but she has definitely changed the world for the better.
Without her, we wouldnt know that so many children around the world have no education and

they would still probably be uneducated. From her actions, Malala Yousafzai has proved that
she indeed is the most influential person in the world.