I am Malala // Malala Yousafzai
After recently reading her book, Malala Yousafzai’s I Am Malala has definitely left me feeling awe inspired, and has without a doubt climbed to the top of my summer reading (or, in this case, re-reading) list.
Born in 1997, Malala describes her life, and how she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize Winner to date. As a female activist and defender of education, she stood up against the Taliban, and literally took a bullet to fight for what she stood for and knew was right. Malala started a blog at 11 years old for the BBC, fighting and raising awareness against the Taliban’s threat to remove women’s rights to education. I can tell you without a doubt that is a hundred times better and more powerful than anything I was doing at that age. Unfortunately today, despite being called “a pride of Pakistan” by the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Taliban still consider Malala a target for her efforts.
She is an advocate for education, whilst being both confident and humble, and is fluent in three different languages: Pashto, Urdu and English. She is an inspiration to us all, having spoken at the United Nations meeting on her 16th birthday and addressing the Leader of the United States about drone strikes. Taking after her education-activist father, Malala has campaigned all across the globe, with one message speaking loud and clear: “I want every girl to be educated”.
At 17 years old, Malala has achieved so much more than I could ever dream of doing. I hope now that it is evident why I consider Malala Yousafzai one of the coolest people out there, and why you should give her book a read this summer.
Words by Victoria Eden