Malala is by now a household name, and the name of one of the most beautiful young women of our time.
Just in case you live under a rock, you can click here for a lovely presentation about her beautiful self:
If you’re not in the clicking mood, keep reading…
- She was born in Mingora, in Pakistan‘s Swat Valley, in July of 1997
- The Taliban began taking over her hometown when she was young. They forced many changes on the people in the Swat Valley, and targeted girl’s schools in particular.
- Malala’s father founded the school Malala attended, and she did not give up her right to an education. In 2008 she gave a speech calling out the Taliban entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?”
- In 2009 Malala began anonymously blogging for the BBC. She wrote about living under threats from the Taliban. You know, the typical stuff 12 year old girls deal with.
- In 2011, she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize and she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize.
- When she was 14, she and her family learned that the Taliban had issued a death threat against her. However, they thought that even the Taliban would not harm a child.
- In October 2012, a masked man boarded her school bus (more of a truck, really) and asked for Malala. When a couple of the kids looked towards her, the man held a gun to her face and shot her. She was hit in the left side of her head. Two other girls were also injured.
- In November 2012, the Malala Fund was created. First, with the mission to aid with her medical expenses. When she had recovered she said, “I am fine. Help the other Malalas.” So, they did. And they have continued to do so.
- Incredibly, she returned to school (in England this time) in March 2013.
- In July 2013, she spoke at the United Nations.
- In October 2013, her book “I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” was published.
- That same month, Malala was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.
- She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize first in 2013, then again in 2014, when she became the youngest person to ever win the prize.
- On her 18th birthday, she opened a school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. She urged her supporters to tell world leaders to invest in “books, not bullets.” She wrote: “The shocking truth is that world leaders have the moneu to fully fund primary AND secondary education around the world– but they are choosing to spend it on other things, like their military budgets. In fact, if the whole world stopped spending money on the military for just 8 days, we could have the $39 billion still needed to provide 12 years of free, quality education to every child on the planet.”
Needless to say, Malala is everything a human should be. She is brave, passionate, and active. She sees clearly the obstacles in the way of her mission, and she speaks out tirelessly against them. She is truly changing the world.
And that is beautiful.
(image from communitytable.parade.com)
OperationalizeBeauty 