She believed that education was a necessity for both boys and girls. This young woman lived in Pakistan, and at the age of only 11 she started a blog to share her story and the importance of education with the world. She was shot in the head by the Taliban. Who am I talking about? This inspirational young woman is known world-wide by just her first name-Malala.

Malala was born in Mingora, Pakistan in the country’s Swat Valley. As a young girl Malala Yousafzai attended a school that her father Ziauddin Yousafzai had founded.

The Taliban are a group that don’t believe that women are equal to men and for that reason they use violence as a way to state their opinion.

Malala found out that the Taliban were attacking girls’ schools in Swat, therefore she decided to give a speech in Peshwar, Pakistan. The title of the speech was “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?”

At the age of only 11 in 2009 Malala started blogging for the BBC about her story and what it was like living under the Taliban’s threats. She disguised her identity by putting her name as Gul Makai on the blog. Later her true identity was exposed to the public as Malala Yousafzai.

As she grew older her fame increased which made the Taliban angry because Malala was using her voice to speak up about the importance of girls’ education.

On October 9th, 2012 on Malala’s way home from school, the Taliban came on the bus searching for a girl named Malala. The Taliban inhumanely shot her on the left side of her head.

She was then brought to England to recover. Now she is pouring her heart and soul into speaking up for girls’ rights and the importance of education.

On her 16th birthday in 2013 Malala gave a speech to the UN. Her speech was very inspirational and an important quote in her speech was the following:

“I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys.

I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”

I like this quote because it really shows how Malala is not doing this to get fame, but she is standing up because she really does want to make a difference and promote gender equality.

This is her amazing speech at the UN:

Malala also now has a foundation called the Malala Fund where YOU can make a donation to support education by going to:http://www.malalafund.org/

Recently a book was released by Malala Yousafzai called I am Malala which is now a bestseller.

Thank you Malala for promoting the importance of education for ALL children.

Thanks for joining me on my journey to change the world!

-Diviya

What is happening in the Philippines?

On November 8th, 2013 typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines. It was extremely powerful and devastating. Thousands of lives were stolen and even more were injured. So many homes and buildings were destroyed. Many organizations are over there helping to support the survivors of the Philippines, but they need YOUR help. Your donation will be matched by the government to help improve the situation.

This is some crazy footage taking by Nickson Gensis who is involved with Plan Canada:

What am I doing to help?

At my school we decided we had to do something to help them. We came up with the idea to hold a toy store. We asked students to bring in new or gently used toys, and then we sold them to students in grades 1 to 8. We called it “The Fellowship For The Philippines Toy Store.” The Toy Store was open for 6 recesses, and we miraculously made over $1100! I am so happy that we all came together to help people in need.

What can you do to help?

#1: Hold a toy store at your school like the one that I did. (If you have any questions about how to do the toy store then you can comment below and I can help you out.)

#2: Hold a fundraiser. You can have one at your school, at an event, or with your family.

#3: Raise awareness. You can talk to your school about it or even talk to your friends about it.

#4: Make a donation. You can donate online on websites like the Canadian Red Cross or Plan Canada.

#5:  You can have a clothes drive, however sending money is recommended.

The Philippines needs YOUR help.

How will YOU help improve the lives of the survivors of typhoon Haiyan?

Thanks for joining me on my journey to change the world!

-Diviya