Malala Yousafzai
A Girl Who Stood Up for Education
Early Life...
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora Pakistan. Before the Taliban came, her hometown was a popular spot and was known for its summer festivals.
Giving Speech to People...
She gave a speech in September 2008 in Peshawar, Pakistan, after the Taliban began attacking girls’ school in Swat.
She also started a blog for the BBC about how the Taliban are denying her an education. She used a fake name, Gul Makai, for her blog, so she can hide her identity, but in December, she was revealed as the BBC blogger.
Getting Awarded...
Even though public platform kept growing, Malala continued to speak out about women’s education, resulting in a nomination for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011. The same year, she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize.
Disaster...
On October 9, 2012, when she was on the bus from school, a man came into the bus Malala was riding in, and asked which girl is Malala. When her friends looked at Malala, a man shoot Malala in the left side of her head. Two other girls in the bus were also injured.
Shooting left Malala in critical condition. She was first flown to a military hospital in Peshawar, but then was transferred to Birmingham, England, to receive further care.
After the attack, she went through a multiple surgeries, but in March 2013, she was able to begin attending school without major brain damage.
The Nobel Peace Prize...
The shooting gave Malala a huge outpouring support. On her 16th birthday, she gave a speech at the United Nations. In 2013, she has also written an autobiography, called I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Talivan.
On October 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. The same year, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She didn’t win the prize that year, but she was nominated again in 2014 and received the Nobel Peace Prize, and became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.