TEEN HEROES: MALALA YOUSAFZAI

Hi everyone, welcome back to our blog! I'm Giorgia R. and today I would like to talk about Malala Yousafzai, a female education activist who stood up to the Talibans, survived an assassination attempt and became the youngest  person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

But What about her life? What did she do to make a change in the world?

Malala was born in the Swat  region of Pakistan, where she grew up. Her  parents were determined to give her every opportunity a son would have, starting with an  EDUCATION.  But then, in 2007, Swat Valley, one of Pakistan’s most beautiful regions, was taken over by the Talibans. Life under the Talibans was difficult and women were discouraged from getting an education.  Malala’s father, an educator who ran a number of private schools for girls, attempted to educate girls under the radar.  Later the Talibans officially banned girls from going to school. In  2009 Malala started  blogging for the BBC under a pen-name, chronicling her life under  the Taliban  regime.  The  New York Times made a short documentary about  her and  she publicy campaigned  for girls  to go to school. But this put  Malala in the limelight sparking the Talibans to target her.  In 2012 she was shot in the head and shoulder.

 Why I admire Malala and her campaign

I decided to talk about this girl because she made me reflect  a lot.  Watching some of her speeches  made me notice an important thing: after  all she endured, Malala has never expressed  anger or any form of violence and it is probably the thing I most appreciate about her.

Of  her  attacker  she says only that  she believes he  made a mistake and that  his goal  was to silence her.  I also admire this girl because she is one of the bravest girls I have ever  heard about and  If I were her, I probably would have done the same thing because  when you don’t  get  an education  your  life is controlled  by others!  Education gives us  knowledge of the world around us and changes  it  into something better; It develops in us a perspective of looking at  life and it helps us build opinions and have points of view on things in life.   Also, when  I  look at her picture, I see someone who is fearless: her survival empowered her to continue her  mission to expand education and she started the Malala Charity fund to help build schools!

Visit Malala's Official Website

So guys, what  do you think about this girl? Do you agree with me when I say that  teenagers can make great changes in the world? I’m curious to read your answers!

 Giorgia R.