Fo sp
Contents Page
in
r t ec
ea tio
Written by: Fiona Beddall
ch n
Publisher: Jacquie Bloese
Development Editor: Sarah Silver
Malala4–33
er ON
Designer: Mo Choy
s' L
Picture research: Pupak Navabpour
Photo credits: People and Places 4
Cover: S. Honda/Getty Images.
Pages 4 & 5: A. Burton, O. Scarff, AFP/Getty Images; A. Weston/Alamy;
Taliban shoot 15-year-old schoolgirl 6
Y
A. Niedringhaus/PA Photos; P. Hermes Furian/iStockphoto.
Pages 6–8: A. Qureshi, Anadolu, V. deViguerie/Getty Images.
Pages 10–12: J. Demarthon, AFP, A. Majeed/Getty Images.
Pages 14–17: A. Qureshi, J. Moore, V. deViguerie/Getty Images. Chapter 1: A girl in Swat Valley7
Pages 18–21: A. Qureshi, A. Majeed/AFP/Getty Images; PID/EPA/Camerapress.
Pages 24–29: PGP/Rex Features; Queen Elizabeth Hospital, R. Tabassum/AFP/
Getty Images; Caters News. Chapter 2: The laws of God10
Pages 30–33: AFP, S. Honda, N. Waldron/Getty Images.
Pages 34 & 35: S. Marai/AFP/Getty Images; M. Ismael/Reuters; European Commision;
www.letgirlslead.org/poder Chapter 3: A BBC blogger 14
Published by Scholastic Ltd. 2015
Chapter 4: Without a home18
Mary Glasgow Magazines (Scholastic Ltd.)
Euston House
24 Eversholt Street Chapter 5: ‘We can’t stop now’21
London NW1 1DB
All rights reserved Chapter 6: Birmingham23
Printed in Singapore
Chapter 7: Together again26
Chapter 8: Taking the campaign
to the world30
Fact File: Girls for change34–35
Self-Study Activities 36–39
New Words 40
PEOPLE AND PLACES
Fo sp
Malala Places
in
r t ec
This is Swat Valley in
ea tio
Pakistan Pakistan. Before the war
there, a lot of Pakistanis
ch n
Malala Yousafzai is from Pakistan. In October liked going to this beautiful
er ON
2012, the Taliban shot her on her school bus place for their holidays.
s' L
because she is a campaigner for girls’ education.
Malala lived in Mingora, a
city in Swat Valley, before
Y
Malala’s family live with her in Britain. she moved to Britain.
Malala’s father, Ziauddin, is Malala’s mother, Tor Pekai,
also a campaigner for girls’ didn’t have much education as
Swat
education. In Pakistan, he a child. Now she is learning to Valley
owned a group of schools. read, write, and speak English.
Islamabad is one of
Pakistan’s biggest cities.
The country’s most
important politicians
Her brother, Atal , is seven Her brother, Kushal, is two
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
live and work here.
The doctors at this hospital in the
years younger than her. years younger than her.
British city of Birmingham saved
Malala’s life.
The Pakistani Taliban Maulana Fazlullah
is an Islamic political was the leader of an Kushal School is a school for
group. Its leaders want Islamic political group, girls in Mingora. Malala’s father,
to lead Pakistan. It the TNSM. He is now Ziauddin, owns the school, and
does not believe in an important man in Malala went here for many years.
education for girls. the Pakistani Taliban.
4 5
Malala
Fo sp
in
r t ec
Ch apter 1
ea tio
A girl in Swat Valley
ch n
TA LI BA N SH OOT
er ON
15 -Y EA R-OL D SCHOOL GI
s' L
RL When Tor Pekai Yousafzai had her first child, her friends
were sad for her. The child was a girl. It was 1997 and
Tor Pekai lived with her husband Ziauddin in Mingora,
the biggest city in Pakistan’s beautiful Swat Valley. When
Y
there’s a new little boy in Swat Valley, the father asks
friends and family to a big lunch. People give the baby
clothes and money. But when a little girl arrives, the father
doesn’t tell anyone. It’s a sad day for the family.
Luckily for Malala, her father was different from other
men in Swat Valley. He was very happy with his daughter.
A son, Kushal, arrived two years later, and a second son,
Atal, five years after that. But her father always loved
talking to Malala and teaching her things.
It was October the 9th, 2012. Fifteen-year-old Malala
walked out of her school in Mingora, Pakistan, and onto
the bus. As it drove her home through the busy streets of
the city, she talked with the other girls on the bus about
the test at school that day. Then they started singing a
song.
When they were about five minutes from Malala’s
home, the driver stopped. There were two men with guns
in front of the bus. They had long white clothes. They
were Taliban!
Children playing on the
The men walked onto the bus and shouted, ‘Who is
streets in Mingora
Malala?’
The girls said nothing, but some gave Malala a A lot of girls in Pakistan didn’t go to school.
frightened look. That was enough for the men. ‘They’re going to cook and clean for their husband
One of them walked close to Malala and shot her in the when they’re older,’ said their fathers. ‘They don’t need an
head. education.’
6 7
Fo sp
in
r t ec
ea tio
Malala’s mother, Tor Pekai, never learned to read At the front of the house, the men had tea and talked
ch n
or write as a child. But Ziauddin wanted more for his about politics. Malala liked taking tea to the men and
daughter, Malala, and for the other girls in Mingora. He listening to them. She loved hearing about the world away
er ON
was the owner of a school, and girls’ education was very from Swat Valley.
s' L
important to him.
Malala enjoyed her lessons at her father’s school, and
playing games in the street with her brothers and friends. EARTHQUAK E
EY
HITS SWAT VALL
Y
When she was eight, the family had enough money to
buy a TV. Malala loved it, but she and her brother Kushal
always wanted to watch different things. There were often earthquakes in Pakistan, but the one
There were often a lot of people at their home: people in October 2005 was worse than all the others. Nothing
from the other houses in the street, friends of her father, terrible happened in Mingora, but in other places in and
and family. Her mother’s and father’s brothers and sisters around Swat Valley, 75,000 people died. Many more
often came to stay there with their children, sometimes for people had no homes or food after the earthquake. They
days, sometimes for months. waited for help from their leaders in Islamabad, or from
The women were usually at the back of the house. the American army not far away in Afghanistan. But for
While they cooked, they talked about clothes, food and a long time, only one group was there to help: a political
friends. In town, they always had a hijab over their head, group called the TNSM.
or were in a burqa. The TNSM opened roads and helped to build houses.
Hijabs and burqas are an important part of life for There were TNSM doctors. Other TNSM people gave food
women in Pakistan. It isn’t possible to go out without one. to hungry families and homes to children without mothers
or fathers. They did a lot of good work.
But the TNSM was an Islamic* political group, and its
people weren’t only there to help.
‘This earthquake came from God,’ they said. ‘He is
angry with us. We need more Islamic laws in Pakistan, or
something much worse is going to happen.’
People were very frightened after the earthquake, and
many of them believed the TNSM. It was the start of a
terrible time for Swat Valley.
A woman wearing a burqa * Islamic laws and ideas come from the teaching of Mohammad and
(left) and a hijab (right). the Quran (the book of Islam).
8 9
Fo sp
in
r t ec
Ch apter 2
ea tio
One day, after school, Malala heard a man on the radio.
The l aws of God
ch n
‘Don’t smoke,’ he said. ‘Don’t listen to music. Don’t dance
or watch films. God doesn’t like these things.’ The man
er ON
started crying. ‘Please live a good life, or there are going to
s' L
A few months after the earthquake, an Islamic lawyer
came to Malala’s home with six other men. ‘Your school be more earthquakes.’
for girls is against the laws of God,’ he said to Malala’s Malala knew from school that earthquakes didn’t
father, Ziauddin. ‘You must close it.’ happen because of smoking or music. But many people
Y
Ziauddin often read the Quran with his family and believed the man on the radio. When he cried, they cried
tried to follow the teaching of Mohammad. He didn’t too.
believe that there was anything in this great book against His name was Maulana Fazlullah and he was in the
girls’ education. TNSM. He talked on the radio every evening, each time
with more listeners. People liked his ideas.
Malala’s father,
Ziauddin Yousafzai
‘Our political leaders in Islamabad only want to be
rich,’ they said. ‘They don’t care about good laws. Maybe
the laws of God are better for Pakistan.’
He and the Islamic lawyer talked and talked. After a
long time, the lawyer decided that the biggest problem
Maulana Fazlullah
with the girls’ school was the door. Girls went into the
school through the same door as men. But Fazlullah wanted a lot of changes. ‘Women can only
‘From tomorrow, the girls can use a different door,’ said go out of the house when a man from their family is with
Ziauddin, and the school stayed open ... for now. them,’ he said. ‘And girls mustn’t go to school.’
10 11
