Malala Yousafzai -- International Women's Day, March 8th

Malala Yousafzai has never been an ordinary person.

Malala began blogging when she was barely 11 years old. At the time she was writing about the Taliban takeover of her hometown of Mingora in Pakistan. The group responsible for the takeover followed an extremist version of Islam and believed girls should not go to school. Malala was very courageously standing up for girls right to education. 

On October 9, 2012, the Taliban tried to silence her. A gunman boarded a truck that she and her classmates used as a school bus and shot Malala in the head. Malala survived the attack. The months following she showed remarkable strength and optimism during a long recovery. Since then Malala has become a symbol of the struggle for girls' rights worldwide. In fact, she delivered a powerful speech at the United Nations just nine months after the attack. 

Two years after her ordeal, on October 10, 2014 Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala said the prize was an encouragement to go forward with her mission to help kids, "This award is for all those children whose voices need to be heard."

Malala, a woman of integrity and character.

Happy International Women's Day!

Maria Cox

Source: Time For Kids / a div. of Time, Inc.