Malala was born in Pakistan on July 12th 1997
and would become one of the most famous teenage
girls ever.
When she was born, her parents named her after
"Malalai of Maiwand" who was a famous teenage
girl hero in Afghanistan in the 1800s.
I know, right?
Isn't history just so bizarre.
You get named after a teenage hero and then
become one?
When Malala was my age, her father knew that
she was special and allowed her to stay up
later than her brothers so they could discuss
politics.
My dad says I'm pretty special too but won't
let me stay up later than my big brother.
And if I ever meet Malala I'm going to ask
her to tell my dad to let me stay up later.
Where Malala grew up, a very strict religious
group took over, called the Taliban.
Suddenly girls weren't allowed to do a lot
of things, especially go to school.
This made Malala very angry.
She wanted to do something important when
she grew up but if she didn't get an education,
her dreams would never come true.
So when she was 11 years old Malala started
speaking in public about how it wasn't fair
that girls were banned from schools, she quickly
got a lot of attention.
She was on local TV and people wrote newspaper
stories about her all around Pakistan.
Soon afterwards a reporter asked her to write
a blog about being a girl living where she
wasn't allowed to go out in public or go to
school or even go shopping.
The reporter and her parents were worried
that she would get in trouble so she used
the fake name "Gul Makai" which means cornflower.
Malala wrote about how the Taliban were destroying
schools and about how the army was finally
coming to fight them.
Her town soon became part of a war against
the Taliban and her family had to escape.
Malala started to get a lot of attention and
another reporter made a documentary about
how she was trying to fight the Taliban's
strict rules and how she now wanted to be
a politician when she grew up to fix everything.
When she was 14, she was nominated for an
International Children's Peace Prize.
She didn't win.
But it was a big deal and in her own country,
she was awarded the National Peace Award for
Youth.
And then, when she was 15, she announced that
she would set up the Malala Education Foundation
to help poor girls go to school.
15!!!!!
And suddenly, just like the hero girl she
was named after, Malala was shot for what
she believed in.
On October 9th 2012, Malala was taking a bus
home after finishing a school exam.
A man jumped on the bus and shot her in the
head.
A religious group shot a 15 year old girl
for saying that all girls should be allowed
to go to school.
Malala was flown by helicopter to a military
hospital where they worked hard to save her
life.
As the news spread, it seemed like the whole
world wanted to help.
Soon, they sent her to a special hospital
in England where they operated on her again
and again.
When Malala recovered enough, she immediately
went back to fighting for girls everywhere.
She got to meet the Queen of England and President
Obama.
She was also awarded the World Children's
Prize and her 16th birthday on July 12th 2013
was declared Malala Day by the United Nations.
Then, in 2014, when Malala was only 17 years
old, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
She is the youngest Nobel Prize winner in
history.
Malala, thank you for standing up for girls
everywhere.
You are one of the most amazing people ever
and a super My Girl Hero.
Ready for my special bonus facts?
Did you know that another Nobel Prize winner
wasn't allowed to go to school because she
was a girl?
Marie Curie had to attend a secret school
called a Flying University because girls weren't
allowed to go to college in Poland.
Malala's family had two pet chickens when
she was growing up.
I had two pet chickens too when I was younger.
Henny Penny and Snow Cone.
Malala was sitting in Chemistry class in Birmingham,
England when she found out that she won the
Nobel Peace prize.
I bet it was pretty hard to pay attention
in class after that.
Please donate to the Malala Fund
