Strength, power, and courage

“Education is the only solution. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”--Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a young woman who was willing to put her life in jeopardy to raise awareness of the terrorism that plagued her district in Pakistan.

She was born July 12, 1997 in the town of Mingora in the Swat Distract of Pakistan's northwester Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In 2009, at the young age of eleven, ". . .She wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. The following summer, a New York Times documentary by journalist Adam B. Ellick was filmed about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television.

On the morning of Tuesday, 9 October 2012, Malala boarded her school bus in the northwest Pakistani district of Swat. A gunman asked for Malala by name, then pointed a Colt 45 at her and fired three shots. One bullet hit the left side of Malala's forehead, traveled under her skin the length of her face and then into her shoulder."--Wikipedia

Malala spoke to the United Nations in July of 2013 ". . .To speak up for the right of education for every child. . .So here I stand, one girl among many. I speak not for myself, but for those without voice can be heard. On October 9, 2012 the Taliban shot me. . .they shot my friends too. . .They thought the bullet would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear, and hopelessness died; strength, power, and courage was born."

Jon Stewart interviewed Malala on The Daily Show and asked her why education was so important. She responded, "The part of our human nature is that we don't learn the importance of anything until it is snatched from our hands. And when in Pakistan we were stopped from going to school, at that time I realized education is very important. Education is the power for women and that's why the terrorists are afraid of education. They do not want women to get education because then women would become more powerful."

For anyone out there fighting for a cause you believe worthy, be strong and stand up for your beliefs. This young woman was only eleven years old when she started speaking out. 

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." — Anne Frank 
 

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To watch Jon Stewart's interview with Malala Yousafzai click on the link below

http://www.upworthy.com/watch-this-incredible-young-woman-render-jon-stewart-speechless?g=3&c=ufb4

Diane Sawyer relays a short documentary about Malala Yousafzai in the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev-jPT5M9cU   (Diane Sawyer interview with Malala Yousafzai)