I think that it is fitting that the day before I leave for
Honduras that the United Nations celebrates Malala Day at the UN. Malala
Yousafzai is a Pakistani girl who has been speaking out about the
importance of education for girls.
Last year, she was shot by the Taliban because of her beliefs. She was recognized today, appropriately
her sixteenth birthday, for her efforts.
I posted a link below of her speech at the General Assembly. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/a-girl-with-a-book-malalas-day-at-the-united-nations/
Education for girls is not just a women’s issue. Malala said “poverty, ignorance,
injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems
faced by both men and women.” Yet
education for women is attacked at far high rates than education for boys
despite the fact that has shown to reduce mortality of women and children
during childbirth as well as give women more of an opportunity to make
decisions about their bodies and their fertility.
While I am not moving to Honduras to become a teacher, I
hope to encourage girls to value education as much as Malala does. Her speech
encourages me because she is just one person in a world of many that is making
difference in her own way. (I am
kind of jealous that she has figured it out so young! If only I had valued the
things at sixteen that she does now, I wonder where I would be…) I will leave
you with one of her final thoughts in hopes that you too do something to leave
the world a better place than when you found it: “one child, one teacher, one
pen and one book can change the world”.
Go do something awesome or as Kid President (who I kind of
want to be my best friend!) says- Give the world a reason to dance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o
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