Is your education
worth dying for?
Malala Yousafzai A Pakistani school
girl
An education
activist
A BBC blogger
Time magazine’s person
of the year 2012
The youngest nominee
for the Nobel Peace
Prize in history
sWat valley Malala is from
the Swat Valley
An area in the
north of Pakistan
bordering
Afghanistan
Seven languages
are spoken here
rural & remote The Swat is a rural area (mostly
countryside)
30% of its economy is based on
farming
The district is extremely remote
In 2010 when Pakistan worst ever
floods occurred, the Swat was
totally cut off
government The political
situation in the Swat is very complicated
There are many different parties
and groups fighting for control
The Pakistani Taliban are very powerful in the
Swat district and lead areas of it
taliban The Taliban is an extremist group that started in
Afghanistan
They enforce a very harsh version of
Sharia Law
Their harsh reading of this law
forbids equality for women
education The Taliban are
opposed to
girls and women
being educated
The Taliban also
ban television,
popular music
and women from
going shopping
2009 In 2009 Malala began
blogging for BBC Urdu
She spoke up for the rights of education
for girls
Also in 2009 the Taliban took control
over the Swat
They began destroying schools, beheading
opposition, hanging opponents in town
squares
assassination attempt On 9 October 2012 a Taliban gunman
shot Malala as she rode home on
the school bus
The masked gunman shouted:
"Which one of you is Malala?
Speak up, otherwise I will
shoot you all"
I am malala
survival Malala was hit with one
bullet, which went through her head, neck, and ended in
her shoulder
Two other girls were also wounded in the shooting
Malala was airlifted to a military hospital in
Peshawar
The left portion of her brain had been damaged
After a three-hour operation, the bullet from her shoulder
was removed
rehabilitation On 15 October,
Malala traveled
to the United
Kingdom for
further
treatment
2 days later she
came out of
coma
On 3 January 2013
Malala was
released from
hospital
Taliban response A spokesperson for the Taliban
said that Malala was a ‘symbol
of obscenity’
The Taliban reiterated that
Malala would be targeted until
she is dead
They said that the attack was a
‘warning to all young people
living in the Swat’
malala charity On 3 April Malala set
up her charity
Her charity will
allow 40 girls to go
to school safely in
her native Swat
Valley
The two school
friends injured with
her that day remain
at risk
news report
do not give up your
education, no matter what