It is an injustice for a girl anywhere in our world to be shot because she was fighting for the rights of other girls. Across the world, a gruesome crime was committed against mankind.
Malala Yousafzai was a 14-year-old girl riding home on a school bus. Now, after a masked gunman apparently boarded her bus, asked for her by name and like a coward, shot her in the head and neck, she is fighting for her life. Malala was shot by the Pakistani Taliban because for the past three years she has advocated for the rights of all girls to become educated.
As of October 10th 2012, Malala Yousafzai is still unconscious and on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of a military hospital in Peshawar. A plane is on standby at nearby Bacha Khan International airport to move her out of Pakistan for further treatment if necessary.
So many teens take our education for granted in the USA. We forget that there are children all over this world that cannot go to school. We forget that education is a privilege. Every child should have the right to a free and quality education. Without the fear of being killed.
After hearing about this young lady, I wanted to know more, so I will share her story. At just age 11, Malala began to protest what was happening in her homeland, and began to write about her experiences, BBC’s Urdu-language service. She described wearing plain clothes, not uniforms, and how it hurt to see her brother attend school and not her.
Malala wants to be a doctor, but also likes politics and advocating for the rights of children. In 2011, Malala was a nominee for the International Children’s Peace Prize, which lauded her bravery in standing up for girls’ educational rights amid rising fundamentalism at a time when few adults would do the same. Last year, she was awarded Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize. These are the accomplishments of the young girl who so terrified the Taliban.
The U.S. government called it “barbaric” and “cowardly.” I totally agree. This young lady has taught me a lot. I will no longer complain when people talk about me for my views. Instead I will work harder for issues I believe in. We should tell her story and shame any country that would like these kinds of acts go on without being punished.
Malala life represents hope for Pakistan and the region. All women should write and blog and speak out about acts like this. So this will never happen again. Malala is 14 and I can relate to her story being 14 myself, with a mission to stop my generation from dying at the hands of other youth.
Marypat Hector is a young lady from Atlanta, Georgia and fully intends to change the world through her motivational speaking and grassroots movements. She is truly a young leader for our generation.
