Malala Yousafzai (pronounced Malālah Yūsafzay) was born on July 12, 1997. She is a Pakistani education activist and student. She is known for her education and women’s rights activism in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, where the Taliban has banned girls from attending school.
In early 2009, at the age of 11 or 12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under an alias for the BBC, describing her life under the Taliban regime, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on the freedom of education for girls. The following summer, The New York Times filmed a documentary about her life, helping her voice her opinion on a wider scale. She began giving interviews for newspapers, magazines and on television, and later took a position as chairperson of the District Child Assembly Swat. She has since been nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize and has won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize. She was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and is the youngest nominee in history.
On October 9th, 2012, Malala was on her way home when her school bus was invaded by a Taliban gunman and she was shot in the head and neck. She was able to receive intense rehabilitation at a Hospital in the United Kingdom. Even after the brutal attack, and despite continued death threats to her and her family, Malala refused to stop fighting for educational and women’s rights in her native land. She used her first interview after her shooting to announce the founding of The Malala Fund, which advocates for education for all children in Pakistan.
I would like to remind the world she exists, everyday if I could. She is truly the epitome of women’s empowerment and everything Karlawithakay stands for.
I bow to her.
[IMAGE CREDIT: VITALVOICES.ORG]
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