DISCOVERING MALALA
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INTERVIEW WITH MALALA
1) What inspired you to become activist for the education’s and women’s rights when you were 11?
I became an activist because in Swat’s valley the Talibans had banished music and television, they prevented women from going out to go shopping and they limited school to young girls.
2) Why do the Talibans hate you?
Because I have written a diary for the BBC under an alias where I reported that girls were banned from school. I told about the war seen through the children’s eyes, nature destroyed by bombs, the impossibility to go out.
3) Who has supported you in your fight?
My father. He’s a man who has always defended women’s rights. Ever since I was little he has taught me the value of existence. He has taught us the meaning of freedom, that education is progress, that men and women can do the same things and can live in harmony.
4) How can school education change the life of women?
Nothing would change more the world of an equitable access to education for all young women. Laws and the governments should change for the benefit of women.
5) Have you ever thought about abandoning your cause after the attack?
No, the terrorist must be afraid of me, or of the power of education! We are so many to fight for our rights. With a pen and a book we can defeat them.
6) What did you feel when you received the Nobel Peace Prize?
I felt I had a lot of responsibilities. The prize given to two people campaigning for children’s rights showed the world that this was a vital and inescapable issue.
7) Who is your book “I’m Malala”, devoted to?
It’s dedicated to all the young women that dealt with injustices and had no voice.
8) What do you dream for your future?
I know I have to study hard to change my country. My dream is to become Prime Minister to help children get their freedom to study.
9) Why do you want to become Prime Minister?
I want every child to go to school. That’s my purpose. Education is the basis for children’s future.
Now I’m focused on my foundation. That’s the right way to sustain girls like me. I want to be their voice and tell the world: “Listen to this girl of Syria or Pakistan or Nigeria”. I want to be the voice of these young guys and girls on the run.
10) What do you do in your foundation, the Malala fund?
I talk to many world’s leaders and I ask them to invest in culture, but not everyone listens to me. They tell me that it’s hard to build schools. So, I spend my 18th birthday sitting on the school’s floor that we built in Lebanon for young Syrians in refugee camps. I wanted to show that there are no excuses: if just one person is building a school with donation, why are rulers of countries saying it can’t be done?
I wanted to say to the leaders of our planet to invest here or else that of the young Syrians will be a lost generation.
11) Is it true that you have built some schools in Pakistan?
Yes, it’s true. We have also projects in Lebanon, Kenya and Nigeria.
12) How can we fight Taliban fundamentalism?
We have to make the children feel that they’re not alone and marginalised, that they’re respected independently of skin colour or religion. More needs to be done because there are children who continue to adhere to military groups.
The more people are scared and outcast, the more take refuge in these groups.
13) Thank you very much Malala.
Thank you for listening to me.
Team:
Giuliano Licari
Ettore Centamore
Marco Indelicato
Marina Barnat
