The story I am Malala, written by Christian Lamb and Malala Yousafazi, starts with Malala telling us about her unique childhood in her hometown of Swat Valley, Pakistan. With Malala’s father, Ziauddin being the principle of a school, education was always a major priority in their family. Malala’s father’s school was doing very well and she was always at the top of her class and had very little classmates that could challenge her.
The only contenders that could come close were her best friend Moniba, and her adversary, Malka-e-Noor. However, after 9/11 and a devastating earthquake, power in Pakistan would change and Malala’s ability to be educated would be challenged by the Taliban. The Taliban are a brutal, fundamentalist religious group (1). When the Taliban came to Swat Valley, it was led by a man named Fazlullah. There first order of business was implementing many extremist rules. Some of these rules are CDs, DVDs, and TVs were not allowed in the home, women must remain in purdah, and girls could not be educated. With her dad owning a school and Malala’s love for education, this last rule was unacceptable. Malala and her father began to speak out against the Taliban and Malala also started a journal writing about a girl controlled by the Taliban. The Pakistan army attempted to make a peace deal with the Taliban, however, this deal did not last. The Taliban became so intolerable that many people left Swat Valley. Malala’s family attempted to stay for as long as they could, but ultimately they left. They became IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), living outside of Swat for three months before they were able to return. (2) When they returned to the Valley, Malala started to get more and more recognition for her advocacy for girls education as well as her father’s for also speaking out with her. Sadly, Malala became the Taliban’s next target.
When Malala was on the bus on the way to school, a man stopped the bus, asked who Malala was, and brutally shot her in the face. Malala was taken to a hospital and given an operation that fixed the missing part of her skull from the bullet. People from all over the world sent letters and pictures wishing Malala well and a fast recovery. While Malala was in the hospital a pair of British doctors decided that she would not be safe in the hospital that she was currently in and she was then moved to Birmingham, UK. When her family had settled and the worst was behind them, the family decided to stay in Birmingham. Malala’s tragic story gave her more fame and a bigger platform that she used and continues to use to speak about equal opportunities for girls educations. With all the activism Malala had done she rightfully became the youngest person to win the Nobel peace prize at the age of 16.
