Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. Yousafzai was the first of three children born to Ziauddin and Tor Pekai Yousafzai. Although it was not always easy to raise a girl child in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai’s father insisted that she received all of the same opportunities afforded to boy children. Her father was a teacher and education advocate that ran a girls’ school in their village.
When Malala’s father first saw her with his own eyes, he right away decided that his daughter's name would be Malala. Malala was named after Malalai of Maiwand, a courageous girl who helped to protect her village from invasion over 100 years ago.
During the first couple of years of Malala's childhood, her family was very poor. At the time, her family was living in a rundown shack near a school where her father first taught. There were no washrooms nor other well needed facilities in the home. However, since it was close to her father's school, it was fun to go to the school to explore different classrooms and teachers. Malala was passionate about knowledge from a very young age, and she would often waddle into her father’s classes before she could even talk. Malala loved school. Yet, at that time in Pakistan, all schools for girls were being ordered to close. Malala was unable to go to school as her brothers had, and this made her angry and frustrated.
As Malala was growing older, she attended her fathers school, Khushal Girls High School and College in the city of Mingora. She enjoyed learning and comparing marks with her close friends. Malala agreed that lots of her friends including herself were quite bright in school and were very committed to their education.
The Taliban did not want girls to go to school and they closed many schools. Malala started writing a blog for the BBC about how the she was living under threats by the Taliban who wanted to stop her from getting her education. She did not use her real name, but instead used the name Gul Makai when she wrote those blogs. In writing a blog, she risked her life. Her goals were to expose the Taliban and to promote education for women. Unfortunately, her blog made her a target for the Taliban.
The Taliban told Malala’s father that he had to close his school. Malala and her father continued to speak out for the right to education. The Taliban told them to stop, otherwise they might kill them, but Malala and her father did not stop.
When she entered her teens, she became forbidden to go outside her house without a male escort. She was confined under the four walls of her home. She was no more a free individual.
A masked gunman boarded the bus and asked which girl was Malala. When her friends looked toward Yousafzai, her location was given away. The gunman fired at her, hitting Malala in the left side of her head; the bullet then traveled down her neck. Two other girls were also injured in the attack. Malala survived but she was very badly hurt. She went to hospital in Pakistan and then she was flown to a hospital in the UK. She had to stay in hospital for over two months.
Yousafzai gave a speech at the United Nations on her 16th birthday. She highlighted her focus on education and women's rights, urging world leaders to change their policies. This day was marked as “Malala Day".