Now you know a bit about who I am and what I have done in my life. Now, why is this important? Why do people around the world know my name, and do I deserve it?
I am not the only girl to be discriminated against. I am not the only child to be refused an education, and I am not the only person to have faced violence. My story is not actually that unique. Then, you might ask, what is all the fuss about? Why did my shooting spark a huge outpouring of support and action from all over the world, when the same thing unfortunately happens to many more people every year? Honestly, I am not sure. If every shooting, every story of children being treated badly sparked such an outcry, then the world would likely be in a much better place. However, what I do know is that I will not waste this opportunity. As soon as I woke up from my medically induced coma in Queen Elizabeth hospital, I knew I was incredibly lucky to be alive. I got right to work on fixing the problems that women face across the world. In the following year alone, I made speeches and talked to so many influential people. One of those people was Barak Obama, and though I looked up to him as a child I was not blind to his use of drone strikes in Pakistan, which we spoke about during our meeting.
I do these things not because I still face danger myself, but because so many children around the world still have no access to stable education. A devastating 130 million girls are out of school right now. I want to fix that. I think that is what makes me eminent. I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it not. It is the story of many girls.
There is one last thing that I know many people are not aware of, but is relevant to the discussion of my eminence. Some people are under the impression that the people of Pakistan are proud of my work to help girls there get an education, and are happy to have me as an ambassador of their country. This is the case for many, but not all. Some people of Pakistan are extremely resentful of me. They ask how come I get special treatment by the rest of the world, and what I’ve done for their country. They say that there are many children who face a much more horrible life than I do. There are even various conspiracy theories about my shooting, saying that it was staged.
What I say to that is this. I do not completely understand why I was lucky enough to get this much support, but I do know that I have done a lot to try to help my country. Ever since I was a young girl I spoke out against violence and discrimination. I never wanted fame, and I never could have dreamed that millions of people would soon know my name. That was never my intention. All I wanted was an education, for myself, for my friends, for the children I used to see searching for garbage on the street. I wanted to help them. I know that there are millions of children facing violence and injustice of unthinkable proportions. I want to help them too. At the end of the day, I cannot stop my old neighbors from hating me. However, I still want to help them have a good life and an education, and as I have said multiple times, I want the same for the children of the Taliban.
Every child deserves to be loved and able to make their own informed decisions. Education has been a tool for extremist groups to get their way throughout history. A lack of it is also the cause of so much hate across the world. A well-educated world is a more peaceful one. This is why we need to invest in books, not bullets. I will not stop trying to help children who need this. Though I now am in a much safer place than I was before, I will not stop trying to help them. This, I think, is why people think of me as eminent.
I do these things not because I still face danger myself, but because so many children around the world still have no access to stable education. A devastating 130 million girls are out of school right now. I want to fix that. I think that is what makes me eminent. I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it not. It is the story of many girls.
There is one last thing that I know many people are not aware of, but is relevant to the discussion of my eminence. Some people are under the impression that the people of Pakistan are proud of my work to help girls there get an education, and are happy to have me as an ambassador of their country. This is the case for many, but not all. Some people of Pakistan are extremely resentful of me. They ask how come I get special treatment by the rest of the world, and what I’ve done for their country. They say that there are many children who face a much more horrible life than I do. There are even various conspiracy theories about my shooting, saying that it was staged.
What I say to that is this. I do not completely understand why I was lucky enough to get this much support, but I do know that I have done a lot to try to help my country. Ever since I was a young girl I spoke out against violence and discrimination. I never wanted fame, and I never could have dreamed that millions of people would soon know my name. That was never my intention. All I wanted was an education, for myself, for my friends, for the children I used to see searching for garbage on the street. I wanted to help them. I know that there are millions of children facing violence and injustice of unthinkable proportions. I want to help them too. At the end of the day, I cannot stop my old neighbors from hating me. However, I still want to help them have a good life and an education, and as I have said multiple times, I want the same for the children of the Taliban.
Every child deserves to be loved and able to make their own informed decisions. Education has been a tool for extremist groups to get their way throughout history. A lack of it is also the cause of so much hate across the world. A well-educated world is a more peaceful one. This is why we need to invest in books, not bullets. I will not stop trying to help children who need this. Though I now am in a much safer place than I was before, I will not stop trying to help them. This, I think, is why people think of me as eminent.