Lily as Malala

My daughter as Malala: You don’t have to be old to make history. Malala Yousafzai was born in Pakistan in 1997. When the Taliban gained control of her area, they banned the education of girls. Malala was raised in a family that valued education so she used her words to fight them. She spoke out against them and, eventually, gained the attention of foreign media. One day the Taliban came looking for her, busting into her school van asking, “Who is Malala?” When she identified herself, a fearful man shot her three times in the head but she survived. She had to be airlifted out of the country and recovered from her injuries in the UK. On her sixteenth birthday, she addressed the United Nations about the need to educate all children all over the world. She told the packed room, “ So here I stand, one girl among many. I speak not for myself but for those without voice can be heard.” Her birthday, July 14th, has been dubbed Malala Day and has become an international call to action for the education of girls. She became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

*Original Photo: Geoff Brokate - www.geoffbrokate.com*

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