http://9jaflave..com/2013/10/malala-yousafzai-one-year-after.html

A year ago this week 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was brutally attacked on her way home from school -- shot in the head at point-blank range by the Taliban.

One year later, the shot heard round the world has given birth to a movement of change -- a movement to educate girls, and the little girl from Swat Valley in Pakistan has become an international symbol of courage and hope.

Malala was 11 years old when she took a stand against the Taliban, who had issued an edict that all girls' schools should be closed. She began advocating for the right to go to school, writing an anonymous blog for the BBC and appearing in a New York Times documentary.

Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, ran a girls' school in the SWAT Valley, and had been targeted for death by the Taliban. And Malala's increasing visibility put her at risk as well.
"I wasn't scared, but I had started making sure the gate was locked at night and asking God what happens when you die," Malala wrote in her autobiography "I Am Malala."

When the Taliban struck, on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012, Malala was on a schoolbus in the northwest Pakistani district of Swat. A gunman got on, asked for the girl by name and then shot her 3 times.

The bullet narrowly missed Malala's brain and she was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, 6 days after the attack. She spent nearly 3 months in the hospital and underwent numerous surgeries.

Today, after numerous surgeries and intensive physiotherapy, Malala is back at school in Birmingham UK, where she lives with her family. The Taliban's bullets did nothing to dim her commitment to campaigning for the rights of girls to receive an education.

She spent her 16th birthday giving a speech at the United Nations and has become the youngest person to ever be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

She has also founded the Malala Fund, a nonprofit organization that advocates for and supports girls education around the world through grants and partner collaborations.

In Malala's own words:

"I think death didn't want to kill me. And God was with me. And the people prayed for me… And now I know that you must not be afraid of death. And you must move forward. You must go forward, because education and peace is very important."

http://9jaflave..com/2013/10/malala-yousafzai-one-year-after.html