Malala Yousafzai (ages 14-16)
In January of 2012, Malala was invited to Karachi (,a city of Pakistan) after the government announced that a girls' secondary school would be named in Malala's honor! Malala was thrilled, not only to visit the school, but to ride in an aeroplane to get there. The two hour plane ride was incredible for Malala because she and her family had never been on a plane before. It would have taken two days by bus at the very least. When Malala and her family arrived to the Karachi assembly, all of the members applauded. They were proud of Malala, she was a very important citizen of Pakistan. Afterwards Malala visited some schools including the one she was going to be named after. Later at the school, Malala made a speech about the importance of education. Many people were there including children and the Mayor of Karachi. Finally the "Malala school" was presented with a painting of Malala herself. Everyone had a great day. At the age of 14, Malala was getting interviewed more often. During one of Malala's interviews, the interviewer, Shehla Anjum, had tears in her eyes. Malala was unsure of this until she heard what she had to say. What Shehla had found out, was that Malala had been threatened by the Taliban. The Taliban were determined to kill Malala. Malala's parents were horrified. Now that they knew that the threats were even more harmful, they didn't want to take anymore chances. They did not want Malala to speak at public events, but Malala was set to do what she pleased. Through all this excitement and confusion, Malala was still going to school, and Ziaudden was still teaching. However, a day after attending a school field trip to the "White Palace", Ziaudden was handed a letter from a school worker. When he read the anonymous letter, his face went pale. This is what the letter had said: Dear Muslim Brothers, There is a school, the Khushal School, which is run by an NGO (NGO's have a very bad reputation among religious people in our country so this was a way to invite people's wrath) and is a center of vulgarity and obscenity. It is a Hadith of the Holy Prophet that if you say something bad or evil you should stop it with your own hand. If you are unable to do this then you should tell other about it and if you can't do that you should think about how bad it is in your heart. I have no personal quarrel with the principal but I am telling you what Islam says. This school is the center of vulgarity and obscenity and they take girls for picnics to different resorts. If you do not stop then you will have to answer to God on Doomsday. Go and ask the Manager of the White Palace Hotel and he will tell you what the girls did.... Everyone was astonished. There were teachers and supervisors watching over the children the entire field trip, the girls obviously did nothing wrong, so they weren't wishing to go see the hotel manager. Instead, Ziaudden was furious as to who wrote the letter, and if the letter was sent to anybody else. The news soon came through that the letters had been left all around their village. That summer odd things kept happening in the village. Many people including Malala had horrible nightmares of what was yet to come. Everyone was worried, and they didn't know what to do. Malala tried to pray but she had to study, her exams were coming up. There was lots of studying to do. On October 9th, 2012, after the exams were over, Malala decided to take the bus home with some of her friends. All of them were in happy moods because they would get to relax after the exams. Things were going pretty well that day until two men armed with guns blocked their bus to a halt. "Who Is Malala?" one of the men asked, gun aiming towards the bunch of girls. But before Malala could even have the chance to reply, she fell to the ground. Motionless. Malala had been shot. The news spread quickly in the village. Just a little while after the shooting, Ziaudden received a phone call and was told that one of his school buses had been fired on. Right away he thought of Malala. He knew that she rode the bus home, so he knew that there was a good chance that she could have been on the bus. Before doing anything else, Ziaudden rushed to the hospital to find out the truth for himself. The moment Ziaudden got to the hospital and spotted the photographers, TV cameras, and the large crowds, he was certain that Malala was there. When he finally found his daughter, his heart dropped. Malala was unconscious and covered in bandages. Ziaudden tried urged not to cry but it was barely possible. Right away Malala was transported by helicopter to a more reliable hospital in Peshawar. Her father came along as well as some of her relatives. When they arrived at the hospital they met with the doctor, Colonel Junaid. After a couple CT's, Colonel Junaid announced that the bullet went behind her ear, through hear cheek, and into her left shoulder blade. Colonel Junaid was most worried about the brain and if it had been damaged through this process. Because of this he had to operate on Malala's skull right away, or then the circumstances would be death threatening. During the operation, Colonel Junaid took off a piece of Malala's skull to give her brain room to swell after the bullet skimmed her head. Another thing that Colonel Junaid did was remove the bullet from her left shoulder blade. After 4 hours of operation, Colonel Junaid came out with good news, the operation went as planned. Around 3:00 p.m. the next day, two British doctors named Dr. Fiona and Dr. Javid came to the hospital to see how Malala was doing and how the operation had worked out. They agreed that Colonel Junaid did well removing her skull, but that Malala still wasn't well at all. There was still much to do to before Malala was healed. In fact, there was so much more that had to be done, that the doctors wouldn't have enough facilities and equipment in Peshawar to finish the job there. Dr. Fiona suggested that Malala should be transported to Birmingham, England where conditions were more conducive to Malala's recovery. Her father reluctantly agreed, only because he knew that it would be right for her daughter. Malala regained her consciousness and made good recovery, However she was lonely for her parents. But when they finally arrived to the Birmingham hospital, they were shocked by Malala's appearance due to problems with a facial nerve. After surgery was performed to repair the nerve, Malala started becoming her old self, mentally and physically. Currently Malala and her family are living in Birmingham, England. Her struggle for womens rights has become known worldwide. She has touched the hearts of many around the world and is loved and respected dearly. |
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