I’d like to introduce to you one of my heroes. And she’s only 17. She has already done a wonderful job at telling her story, but it is a story that must be told more widely. Also, like all great leaders, she has enemies who misunderstand her story, and I want to set the record straight.
Malala Yousafzai is a native of Swat, Pakistan. In her culture, women don’t usually have the opportunity for education. Boys go to school; men go to work; girls and women stay in the home.
Malala’s father, a teacher, thought differently. He gave his daughter every possible chance to learn. He accepted girls into his school and spoke out on behalf of women’s education. Malala became a competitive and energetic student. But she was also an ordinary teenage girl who liked boys and Twilight movies.
Then the Taliban came. They bombed schools. They made women stay inside. They beat and murdered activists who disagreed with their interpretation of Islam. While Malala’s father continued to speak out, so did Malala. She stood for her own rights and for the rights of her peers. She became a celebrity throughout Pakistan–and the Taliban knew it.
While Malala was traveling home from school one day in 2012, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman. Luckily, the bullet missed her brain, and she survived. She now lives with her family in England, where she continues to speak out more than ever for education and the rights of women. She has spoken at the UN, and she has published a book called I Am Malala.
Story Capture 