According to Malala, how did the shooting affect her? Cite evidence in your answer.
âI think Malala is an average girl,â Ziauddin Yousafzai says about the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who captured the worldâs attention after being shot by the Taliban, âbut thereâs something extraordinary about her.â
A teacher himself, Yousafzai inspired his daughterâs fight to be educated. At a special event with Malala in Washington, D.C., he tells NPRâs Michel Martin that he is often asked what training he gave to his daughter. âI usually tell people, âYou should not ask me what I have done. Rather you ask me, what I did not do,ââ he says. âI did not clip her wings to fly. I did not stop her from flying.â
Yousafzai has this advice for parents of girls around the world: âTrust your daughters, they are faithful. Honor your daughters, they are honorable. And educate your daughters, they are amazing.â
A year after being shot, Malala is clear about her goal. âI speak for education of every child, in every corner of the world,â Malala says. âThere has been a discrimination in our society,â which she believes must be defeated. âWe women are going to bring change. We are speaking up for girlsâ rights, but we must not behave like men, like they have done in the past.â
Perhaps she has learned from her fatherâs experience. When asked what gave him a passion for girlsâ education, Yousafzai points out that he was âborn in a society where girls are ignored.â Living with five sisters, he was sensitive to discrimination from an early age. âIn the morning, I was used to milk and cream, and my sisters were given only tea,â he says.
Yousafzai felt the injustice even more when Malala was born. He later opened a school that Malala attended in the Swat Valley. At the time, the Talibanâs influence was gaining power and both Yousafzais were firmly on their radar. âBut we thought that even terrorists might have some ethics,â Yousafzai says. âBecause they destroyed some 1,500 schools but they never injured a child. And she was a child.â
Malala says that the shooting has taken away her fear. âI have already seen death and I know that death is supporting me in my cause of education. Death does not want to kill me,â she says. âBefore this attack, I might have been a little bit afraid how death would be. Now Iâm not, because I have experienced it.â
When asked if she is having any fun now with all her campaigning, Malala laughs, âItâs a very nice question. I miss those days.â But she also says that there is another side to her than what is shown in the media. âOutside of my home, I look like a very obedient, very serious, very good kind of girl, but nobody knows what happens inside the house.â There, she says, sheâs not naughty, but she has to stand up to her brothers. âItâs good to fight with your brothers and itâs good to tease them to give them advice.â
She says her little brother doesnât really understand why his sister has so much attention. âHe said, âMalala ... I canât understand why people are giving you prizes, and everywhere you go people say, âThis is Malalaâ and they give you awards, what have you done?ââ she says.
Malala knows the Taliban would still like to kill her, but she says she hopes to return to Pakistan one day. âFirst, I need to empower myself with knowledge, with education. I need to work hard,â she says. âAnd when I [am] powerful, then I will go back to Pakistan, inshallah [God willing].â