BECAUSE I AM A GIRL.....JANUARY'S GIRL ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This young woman I have chosen for my January girl on fire is very unorthodox, courageous and fierce and she is 15 years old!!!!! I read her story and I immediately felt moved by her actions. This incredible young woman has stood against the conformist society she lives in and she stood alone. She is a public activist at 15 years old for equal rights for women in the Middle East particularly Pakistan. I am in awe of her bravery, heroism and her strength.

 

Growing up, I went to an all girls high school, in university of 10 classmates 7 were girls, for me this was the norm. However, on the Eastern side of the world women are degraded because they are girls, confined to household duties because they are girls, women are barred from getting an education, because they are girls.

 

In a country such as Jamaica, I often felt discouraged because the social, political and economic woes of the country seemed to be stifling any personal growth. However, today I look at Jamaica differently, despite our challenges and our struggles, women are empowered, uplifted and celebrated. 

 I am proud to say that I was priviledged enough to be born and raised in a society that gave me a fair chance at a good education. I was given the option of going to school, I was nurtured by both teachers and peers alike. I was applauded for being outspoken, curious and driven. I never felt as though any woman’s place was in the home and while we take these things for granted people on the other side of the world are dying for our freedom. This young woman is a remarkable human being, I hope you find something in this story to set your heart on fire!!!!!!!!!!!!

 P. S. The next time you get a feeling of despair or lose hope just remember while you are free to be anything you choose to be on the other side of the world women are fighting just to live free.

 

 

 

Meet Malala Yousufzai, born July 12, 1997, she is a Pakistani school student and education activist from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She is known for her education and women's rights activism in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.

In early 2009, at the age of 11/12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. The following summer, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat

 Yousafzai began to rise to prominence, giving interviews in print and on television and taking a position as chairperson of the District Child Assembly Swat. She has since been nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu and has won Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize. A number of prominent individuals, including the Canadian Prime Minister, are supporting a petition to nominate Yousafzai for the Nobel Peace Prize.

On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus. She was targeted for "promoting secularism" by championing girls' education. She had also highlighted Taliban atrocities in the Swat valley and, when younger, kept a diary for the BBC's Urdu service. The Taliban's attempt to kill a 14-year-old girl, famous for speaking out against the Islamic militants and their attacks on girls' education, has triggered a wave of national revulsion in Pakistan .

 

 

 

 



 

 



 

 

 

In her own words,

 

"I had a terrible dream yesterday with military and helicopters and the Taliban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending school. Only 11 students attended class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taliban edict. On my way from school to home I heard a man say "I will kill you". I hastened pace and then after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me, but to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone."

 

Malala Yousufzai 3 January 2009, BBC Blog