Women’s history is all around us, yet not many really take the time to acknowledge how much it impacts our everyday lives. Ever heard of Sleeping Beauty? Or, Snow White? In those stories and more, the men always saved the women. Although that is true in those fairytales, we can’t have this false stereotype impacting the real world. We need to throw light on women activists, women politicians, women scientists and more. That is why I am beginning these HERstory articles. Every month, I will write an article about a woman who is changing and contributing to the world in her own way. Today, I’m going to be shining the spotlight on Malala Yousafzai, a young, aspiring woman whose story and work really stood out to me. Instead of history, it’s time for HERstory!
Malala Yousafzai is a young woman activist campaigning for equal education rights. Malala was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. Her family consists of her mother, her father and her two younger brothers. Her father (Ziaudden Yousafzai) owned the Kushal School in Mingora and generally education was a significant part of her life which was just as well since Malala loved school! Even as a young toddler, Malala would toddle into empty classrooms and deliver lessons in her own baby talk. I know right, so adorable! Sometimes, she would get to sit in the classes with the older children and listen in awe to everything the teacher said. Malala longed to wear the uniforms she saw the older girls arriving in: shalwar kamiz-a long deep blue tunic with loose white pants and a white headscarf. Finally, the time arrived for Malala to go to school and she was absolutely bursting with excitement! She even stated: “the school was my world, and my world was the school.”
Simple yet delightful these times may have been, they didn’t last for long. In 2008, the Taliban took over Mingora by growing the fear in the citizens’ hearts that God will punish them. It all started through a “Radio Mullah” (a voice on the radio). This Mullah said that by wearing certain clothes, by listening to music, watching movies and more was “Western and “un-Islamic.” Islam is the religion they believed in. They inflicted extremely harsh punishments on those who defied their rules. They even said that girls should no longer attend school. Malala didn’t stand for this, though, and neither did her father. Ziaudden received a threatening note stating, “Sir, the school you are running is Western and infidel. You teach girls and you have a uniform that is un-Islamic. Stop this or you will be in trouble and your children will weep and cry for you.” It was signed Fedayeen of Islam (devotees of Islam). Ziaudden published his response in the newspaper. “Please don’t harm my schoolchildren, because the God you believe in is the same God they pray to every day. You can take my life, but please don’t kill my schoolchildren.” That statement shows you how devoted Ziaudden was to education. Her daughter is equally devoted.
Malala’s fight for education began at a school assembly planned by the upper-school girls of Kushal School. The assembly, or peace rally as Malala called it, was a chance for the girls to express their feelings in speeches about how they feel of the Taliban’s campaign to destroy girls’ schools. Malala spoke of how much she loved school and the importance of learning.That was the start to Malala’s campaign for girls’ education. Throughout 2008, as her home was being attacked, she didn’t stay silent. She spoke out to local and national TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. Even after all of Malala’s hard work, the Taliban continued their campaign against girls’ education. It all came to head after a shocking declaration by the Radio Mullah in late December of 2008: “After the fifteenth of January, no girl, whether big or little shall go to school. Otherwise, you know what we can do. And the parents and the school principal will be responsible.” That was the first real declaration of a threat directed at all schoolgirls in Pakistan, not just simple persuasions, a real threat. Fathers and brothers forbade girls from going to school; they were genuinely worried about their daughters’/sisters’ safety. Malala was sad and frustrated, but she understood. In her culture, girls do not defy the males in their families.
Even in all this sadness, a chance arose for Malala. A friend of Ziaudden, who worked at the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), had asked him to find either an older student or teacher at his school to write a diary about life under the Taliban for its Urdu website. Everyone believed it was too risky but Malala (only 11 at the time) asked her father, “Why not me?” After consulting her mother, it was decided that Malala would write the diary. Can you imagine how brave that is? To stay safe and secret, Malala chose a fake name for herself: Gul Makai, which means “cornflower” and is the name of a heroine in a Pashtun folk story. Even though Malala was writing in the privacy of her bedroom with a fake name, the internet made her writing available for the world to see what was happening in her home. Malala wrote many entries about her life under the Taliban as Gul Makai and it was all anyone could talk about. The diary came to an end when the writer’s real identity was accidentally revealed. It happened by Ziaudden who shared a frightening experience his daughter had with a reporter and that was the same experience Malala had written in one of her diary entries. Of course, the whole world made the connection, but that was alright. After all, the diary had done its job and numerous reporters were following the story of girls’ schools being shut down in Pakistan.
Even after all this, the last day of school for girls still came, though. January 15th arrived and journalists from The New York Times documented Malala’s whole day. She and her friends treasured every moment at school, knowing that they may never ever be able to return. In February, 2009, the government of Pakistan had agreed to impose sharia if the Taliban would stop fighting. Sharia meant that all aspects of life-from property disputes to personal hygiene-would be dictated by religious judges. It was basically a peace deal. Malala was able to return to school yet the “peace deal” wasn’t exactly peace. People were still murdered by the Taliban.To get away from all the violence, Malala and her family had to flee their home. After three months, the family returned to Mingora and the poor city’s condition was terrible. There were buildings in rubble, piles of wreckage, burned-out cars and smashed windows. Luckily, Kushal School was still standing. That didn’t mean that Malala’s campaign would come to an end. Malala continued her fight for girls’ education and for a little while, the future seemed somewhat hopeful.
After a while, it started to seem as if the Taliban never left. By early 2011, the Taliban had blown up schools, kidnapped people and murdered them. Malala even received a death threat, when her name was googled. Under her name it said, “should be dead.” Can you imagine how frightening that must have been? Her father was extremely worried; it’s one thing for him to receive threats but something completely different for his own daughter to receive a death threat. Malala started getting nightmares of men throwing acid in her face and of men sneaking up behind her.
On the 9th of October, 2011, the day started off as any other. Malala went to school to take her exams and at the end of the day, she and her friend decided to take the second pickup home so they could chat for a bit. Soon, when the dyna (small bus) arrived, there was the normal scramble for seats and then they were off. The van bounced along the busy Mingora streets along the usual route. Just after they passed the Little Giants snack factory, the road became oddly quiet. Malala doesn’t remember this but a man stopped the dyna and asked the driver if that was the Kushal School bus. Another man jumped onto the tailboard and leaned into where the girls were sitting. He asked, “Who is Malala?” and Malala’s friends turned to look at her which gave her away. A gun was fired twice and three girls total were injured, including Malala. The bullet hit Malala on the left side of her head; the bullet then traveled down her neck. One of the other girls that had been shot had her arm grazed by the bullet while the other had been hit in the palm and left collarbone.
After being transported to several hospitals, Malala woke up on the 16th of October at a hospital room in Birmingham, England. In that week between October 9th and October 16th, she had been in a coma, she had had an operation and was flown to the other side of the world. As you can imagine, it was a terrifying time for the whole world. Malala received thousands of cards and packages from people all over the world who were praying for her recovery. Finally, after months of surgeries and rehabilitation, Malala was released from the hospital and she joined her family in their new home in Birmingham. Imagine being shot, unknowingly traveled to the other side of the world and then having to make do in a place that was quite the opposite of home. Birmingham did not have the usual noisy bustle of Mingora. All the houses seemed to look the same and it was quiet, too quiet. Malala was used to aunties gossiping in the kitchen, uncles arguing politics in the living room and children running all over the place.
At that point in her life, Malala realized that she would have to make a choice; she could live a quiet life or she could continue her campaign for girls’ education. As you can probably guess, Malala was determined to continue her fight until every girl could go to school. She established the Malala Fund with her father, charity with a dedicated goal to give each and every girl an equal opportunity of education. Malala was even invited to speak at the United Nations! How exciting is that?! In recognition of the amazing work the Malala Fund was doing, Malala received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014! And get this, she is the youngest ever Nobel Laureate! All these fancy awards and speeches didn’t get in the way of Malala’s goal, though. She went on to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford in 2018 and graduated in 2020. Every day she continues her fight that all girls receive twelve years of free, safe, quality education. She travels to countries all over the world to help girls fighting lack of education, wars, child marriage, poverty and more. She’s committed to ensuring that world leaders keep their promises of delivering change to the education of girls everywhere.
I’m sure you can tell why I started these HERstory articles by now. There are more women like Malala who are working to make the world a better place and they deserve to be heard. You can do your part too! First off, by reading this article, you helped! Another great way is to check out the Malala Fund. You can access the Malala Fund website by searching “Malala Fund” on Google, then select the option that says “Malala Fund | Working for a world where all girls can learn ….” There are more than 130 million girls who can’t go to school today, which means that the fight isn’t over yet. You can help by supporting Malala and by joining her fight. Together we can make a difference and give all girls an opportunity to to learn and lead. I hope you consider making a donation to the Malala Fund! Remember, you have a voice and you can use it to change the world.