Interview with Malala
Team:
Giuliano
Licari
Ettore
Centamore
Marco
Indelicato
Marina
Barnat
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.
Download our document:
Team:
Giuliano Licari
Ettore Centamore
Marco Indelicato
Marina Barnat
