“My life is like a movie, full of dreams. I used to dream of becoming famous, to see my valley freed from the clutches of Taliban, to see girls flying like butterflies, free from any restrictions. It is becoming as a reality so I am happy, happy, and very happy.” -Malala Yousafzai
Sixteen year old Malala Yousafzai has been advocating for the education of girls in the Swat Valley, where the Pakistani Taliban had banned girls from going to school. On October 9, 2012, when she was only 14, Malala was shot in the head by a gunman in retaliation for spreading “secular” thoughts in the area. Today she lives in Birmingham, England and is a raging advocate for girls education worldwide.
It is relevant that we are talking about the lack of education toward girls in today’s justice post. Out of the world’s 130 million out of school youth, 70% are girls. This is not right, this is injustice. In Cambodia many of the communities that we work with have kids who are not in school. This is for many reasons, one of which is that the communities and families are too poor to have their kids in school, or the school is too far away and they cannot make it. We have worked at an orphanage called Happy Tree for kids with HIV/AIDS. The thing that I love about this orphanage is their emphasis on education. The picture above, and the feature image is of the classroom at Happy Tree.
To close, I want to pray for Malala, who represents education rights for the disadvantaged world wide. Please pray with me for girls and kids around the world who have not received the right to an education. I am also attaching a video of Malala on the Jon Stewart show and some more info from her.
Jesus, please be with this little girl. Protect her mind, give wisdom to her on how to advocate for women’s education world wide and protect this brave young girl. Bring conviction on the men who attempted to take her life and bring change to Pakistan in the area of education of girls. Amen.
Malala Fund Right to an Education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f506lCk6Tos
Photos by Lindsey
