Malala Yousafzai is the 16 year old Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban because she spoke out for the education of all girls. She miraculously survived and is now in school in England. She has continued to speak out for the rights of all girls world-wide to an education, and recently addressed the UN on this subject. Malala just won the European Union’s Human Rights Award, and she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her amazing and articulate fight for girls’ rights. She has dedicated her life to achieving this dream.

Goals, wishes, dreams – there are so many we could pursue. Think of how we could make the world a better place just by giving it our all! We owe a lot to Malala for showing us what an injured girl can do to change the world. If we had been shot by the systems we are trying to change, would we persist? That takes a lot of courage. The goal of making education possible for every girl in the world is huge.
 
Can we improve our neighbourhood? Yes we can, if we work together to listen to each other, and respect all our neighbours. We can help each other with ordinary tasks and look out for each other. We all have stories to tell, and I want to help write them down. We all have gifts we can contribute to the cause.
 
Myself, I still want to sing, and play violin, and write children’s stories that show kids how to respect others. I love teaching, and creating artwork, and building things. I want to plant more trees to make our air cleaner. I want to pass on wisdom I’ve learned the hard way. I love seeing the light go on in young people’s minds, when they realize they really can change things.
 
All of us together can really make a difference if we follow Malala’s wonderful example.  We can dedicate our lives to making our neighbourhood and our world a better place to live, so each and every one of us can be happy and content, as we care for others. That is a lofty goal, but one worth working towards. Let’s do it!