Malala Yousafzai (you-sahf-ZIGH), who loved to read and learn, was devastated when Taliban militants began taking control of Swat Valley, Pakistan, where she and her family lived. The militants destroyed hundreds of schools. They banned girls from attending school, wearing colorful dresses and from working outside the home. They banned owning a television, playing music, and dancing. People who defied the new laws were harshly punished and even threatened with death. 

Malala’s mother had taught her the importance of being honest. Malala’s father, an education activist, who ran a local private school for girls, taught her the importance of girls getting an education and the same opportunities as boys. With her parents’ support, Malala decided to standup for her right, and the right of all children, to be educated. She gave her first public speech in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan, where she talked about the Taliban taking away her right to be educated.

Soon after, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was searching for a schoolgirl, living under Taliban rule, to share that experience with its readers by writing a blog anonymously. Malala’s father asked his students, but they declined because of the risk. Malala, with her parents’ permission, accepted the challenge. Her father explained, “Not talking was a greater risk than that because then ultimately we would have given in to the slavery and the subjugation of ruthless terrorism and extremism.” 

To protect her identify, Malala wrote her blog, I am afraid, under the name Gul Makai, a local folk tale heroine. Malala’s diary was published periodically both in English and Urdu, her native language. It received national and international media coverage. Malala was one of the few people who stood up for children’s rights, especially the rights of girls to get an education.

At age 15, Malala suffered the consequences of her bravery, as the Taliban tried to silence her with bullets. The shooting sparked international outrage and transformed Malala into an international figure of peace and literacy.
(Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan: 2009)