Pakistani Teen Activist Released from Hospital

                 Malala Yousafzai, a fifteen year old girl living in Pakistan who was shot in the head last October by the Taliban, has finally been released from the hospital in England where she was receiving treatment. The Taliban had targeted her because she had been openly speaking out for girls’ right to education. When she was twelve, the Taliban moved into the valley where she lived and closed down her school. She then became a highly outspoken critic of their opposition to girls’ education, claiming, “I have a right to education, I have the right to play, I have the right to sing, I have the right to talk, I have the right to speak up!”

                And for her public campaign for girls’ education, guess how she was rewarded? Well, one day on her way home from school, the Taliban sent gunmen into her van. They proceeded to shoot her at point blank range in the face. She was airlifted to England in critical condition for emergency treatment. Thankfully, it turns out that the bullet never entered her brain, only glancing off her skull, going through her cheek, and into her shoulder, leaving this teen activist alive and now ready to fight against the Taliban another day. She is very thankful for her health and attributed her miraculous recovery to God and the prayers of everyone. She claims to be getting better day by day and promises to continue her campaign, stating “I want to serve. I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated.”

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                This girl truly inspires me. I mean, she’s younger than I am and already she has accomplished more than I probably ever will! While I sit at home and worry about how busy my life is and how I need a break, Malala has been risking her life for a cause so near and dear to her and in the process getting shot in the face for her efforts, forcing her to spend months in the hospital recovering. Wow. Now THAT takes some guts!

                And if you’re thinking that she would never have been so outspoken if she knew her life was so at risk, you’re dead wrong. Malala apparently has used her time in the hospital envisioning a future confrontation with the Taliban, saying, "I think of it often and imagine the scene clearly. Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right."

                It’s clear that for her, there are some causes that need to be fought for at all costs, even if that cost is your own life. It makes me think about my own life. Would I ever fight for a cause that could very possibly get me killed? Would you? It’s hard for most of us to imagine because we are so blessed to live in a country where getting shot in the head for being a human rights activist isn’t too likely to happen. But what if we were? Call me pessimistic, but I’m not so sure that there would be many of us that would speak out against human rights abuses if doing so could be so dangerous. I sure hope I’m wrong about that.

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Here's the original article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/teen-activist-malala-yousafzai-discharged-hospital-article-1.1258866

And here's a video. So you can watch it, you know?