Malala Yousafzai speaks at World Bank headquarters on the International Day of the Girl (Photo credit: World Bank Photo Collection)
When I was younger I loved going to school and my passion for learning has never really left me. I’m always looking for new opportunities to find out more about a subject or research a new trend. Whenever I fill in Buzzfeed quizzes, I always end up with the bookworm or nerd personality type. I like to think of myself as curious but even still I’m a big fan of education, especially education for women.
Who is Malala?
Today I would to share with you the story of Malala Yousafzai. Like me, she is a girl who loves going to school and learning. Unfortunately, some people around her did not want her to learn. They feared education would give her power. Those people had a meeting and decided to assassinate her in Pakistan, where she lived. On October 9, 2012, they walked onto her school bus, asked for her by name and shot her in the head. The bullet hit her forehead and ran down the length of her face but did not kill her. She is lucky to be alive.
Those bullets couldn’t silence her. Malala is one of the world’s most courageous leaders, and one of my personal heroes. On July 12th, Malala turned 17 and finished another year of school. July 14th, is being recognized as “Malala Day” around the world. She describes it as:
“Malala Day is not my day. It is the day of every girl and every boy. It is a day when we come together to raise our voices, so that those without a voice can be heard.”
Malala has since become an advocate for education, even writing her own book “
I am Malala.: You can hear her speaking at the United Nations
here.
Do Your Part
If you care about creating a world that ensures everyone has an education and an opportunity to chase their dreams, realize that YOU have power. You have a voice. You have strength and influence. You don’t have to sit on the sidelines. You can help create change in one or several ways.
Help Change The World
Tell everyone you talk to today about Malala and her story. Use social media to spread the word. Use the #StrongerThan hashtag and mention @MalalaFund on Twitter. Here’s what I’ll be tweeting “I love: books, reading, learning & education for women! @MalalaFund shows we are #StrongerThan ignorance! http://www.malala.org/“. (Click the link to tweet the same message.)
If you feel inspired – make a donation to the Malala Fund. What you do today could help millions of women and girls around the world who are denied an education. Your help could enable one of those women to cross something meaningful off of her bucket list!
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