Malala advocates for Education Rights

Politicians have said it, world leaders have confirmed it and everyone knows it for sure: children are the future of this world. Parents take it upon themselves to bring to the world people that will change the world but many never really know their children’s true potential until said children take them by surprise and find themselves giving a speech before the UN general assembly and hoping that by 2015 no child would go without an education. It’s also her sixteenth birthday that same day.

Young Malala Yousafzai was only 12 years old when she began advocating for children’s education, her anonymous blog Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl took the world by storm when the BBC covered it and posted it on their website. Within the lines of this blog, Malala discussed the difficulties she and her fellow classmates were facing because the Taliban’s ban on girls going to school. Many schools were blown up and destroyed in order to impose the ban; although the country has attempted to safeguard those schools children still feared to go to school in the morning and particularly girls who are thought to be only meant for the household and childrearing. An excerpt of her diary shows the sadness felt among the girls who seem to know the inevitable fact that they would be denied their basic right to an education:

“This time round, the girls were not too excited about vacations because they knew if the Taleban implemented their edict they would not be able to come to school again. Some girls were optimistic that the schools would reopen in February but others said that their parents had decided to shift from Swat and go to other cities for the sake of their education.”

Three years later, at the age of 15 years old, Yousafzai was on her way to school one morning when the Taliban climbed onto her bus and opened fire. They shot her in the head causing her skull to fracture. This accident only pushed her activist tendencies further when she realized that nothing would stop her from getting an education and how essential this was particularly for young girls. Throughout her plight for children’s education she has been on the front page of the New York Times and has been the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

On July 12th 2013, Malala represented children across the world when she spoke before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and presented him with a petition to tackle the education emergency and ensure that every child has a chance to get an education and reach their fullest potential. In what the UN has dubbed the first ever youth takeover of the United Nations, Malala comes joined by 650 other youth delegates who’s goal is to ensure that by 2015, the 57 million children who do not have access to education will be recounted to zero.

Yousafzai’s statement was “On 15 June, fourteen girls were murdered in Pakistan simply because they wanted an education. Many people know my story but there are stories every day of children fighting for an education. 

'The basic right to education is under attack around the world. We need change now and I need your help to achieve it. You can help me and girls and boys across the world. We are asking the United Nations General Assembly to fund new teachers, schools, books and recommit to getting every girl and boy in school by  December 2015.”

In her speech, this young girl shows a level of eloquence that many world leaders can learn from. She discusses the issues with passion and a conviction that causes her listeners to give her a standing ovation at the end of her speech. She demands peace and tranquility and the right to an education for all children. Through the pursuit of an education, woman particularly will be independent and capable of achieving great things. She thanks her supporters for the love they showed her and goes on to state that she holds no grudges against the Taliban. Inspired by prominent figures such an Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, and Benazir Bhutto, this young woman speaks before a full house in the UN general assembly advocating her petition and demanding the rights of the children she represents.

It’s inspiring to see what young people are capable of once they know they have it in themselves to achieve their goals. The world is excited as we wait and see the number drop to zero and education become a right to each and every child out there. One can only imagine what the world will look like when Malala Yousafzai achieves her goal.

The speech at the UN:

http://webtv.un.org/watch/malala-yousafzai-addresses-united-nations-youth-assembly/2542094251001/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#full-text

Malala’s online petition:

http://malaladay.org.uk/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term={keyword}&utm_content=generic&utm_campaign=Malala+Day+June+13

Some Thoughts on Egypt

While I was one of the many egyptians that boycotted the elections because I refused to be part of such a circus act, I watched as the millions thronged along the streets to cast their vote in the first ever democratic elections held in Egypt. For once in the lives of the egyptian people, they felt a glimmer of hope post-January 25th revolution that their voices would be heard and that they would finally benefit from a democratic way of life. Although, I saw Shafik vs Morsi as an act under the big top, I kept my thoughts to myself and watched as President Mohamed Morsi took his oath in Tahrir Square and proceeded to open his suit jacket to prove that he didn't have a bullet proof vest on and shove aside his bodyguards. All this to show that he knew his people loved him and that he wasn't afraid to be one of us minions. Cue applause from the crowd around him, sprinkle tears of joy in their eyes, add a dash of nationalistic songs and draw the curtains on a sold out show. Thank you now everyone go home.    

And go home we did. We went home, we patted ourselves on the backs for a job well done and thought we would go back to normal life. We compiled the promises Morsi made during act 1 scene 2 of The Oath in Tahrir Square and gave him one hundred days to wave his magic wand and change Egypt for the better. Days, weeks and months went by and we saw the slow downfall of our beloved country while Mr. President went off on his merry way begging other countries for money for projects we didn't know about and let his friends take on our constitution and turn it into the laughing stock of the international realm. Add to that the fact that they made a beautiful religion look completely ridiculous and you have the goings on of the final act in Morsi's play. Calls for another revolution were made and we had ourselves another impeached president.  

Now, and I cannot make this point clear enough, I am no supporter to the Muslim Brotherhood however, I am a conspiracy theorist. The military that was once defamed completely in Egypt now walks the streets of the capital with pride and joy arm in arm with protestors, we are bombarded with commercials asking us to update our Facebook status to support the military in their quest to save Egypt and go out and protest tomorrow to show that this was a coup by any other name. I'm all for it, I didn't believe the circus act but I must admit the timely fashion in which the military responded to the Morsi Show makes me a little bit skeptical of their motives. When did they have time to bring together El Baradei, the azhar sheikh, the coptic pope, a female journalist, the leader of the Tamarrod movement and El Sissy for a press conference that would confirm that the curtain was drawn on The Morsi Show? Again, I fully support them and hope that our country will go back to normal soon without the dark cloud of the brotherhood looming above our heads but the conspiracy theorist inside of me can't help but wonder what will come out of The Military Special, act 1 scene 2.  

In the end, I may be completely wrong about all this and we will all hold hands and sing Kumbaya together in Tahrir Square and skip home happily but a part of me is watching with fear as to what may play out next in the country. It seems that everyone wants a piece of it and no one truly cares about Egypt. When will we have a president that actually cares about the country and the people?     

Boston Bomber Goes to Court

Marathon Monday will never have the same ring to the residents of the state of Boston ever again. Once known for bringing the community together for a friendly competition among friends, neighbours and athletes alike, the Boston Marathon is now a day to ponder human nature and just how evil it can be. On April 19th 2013, the world watched as the city of Boston went under lockdown, its neighbourhoods resembling a ghost town from the latest horror movie, while police went on an full fledged man hunt to capture the Tsarnev brothers who were found responsible for the bombs exploding at the finish line earlier that day.

Tamerlan and his brother Dzokhar Tsarnev were what seemed to be average immigrants to the US. Tamerlan was on his way to becoming a prized boxer while Dzokhar was known by his classmates as quiet and calm. But beneath these seemingly normal exteriors lay very conflicted spirits caused by varying reasons at the time. These issues lead them to devise a plan to bomb the Boston Marathon and assume they would get away with it. The bombs were made at home in pressure cookers and they were set off at the finish line as marathon runners were completing their race and their loved ones were waiting to cheer them on. Through this plan, these brothers killed three and injured 264 people.

Police immediately set out to find the perpetrators while the people from across the world sat glued to their television screens and twitter feeds waiting for the moment when the police would announce that they had been captured. During a shootout Tamerlan was shot and killed but his brother kept going until he was arrested and taken under custody to the hospital for injuries.

On Wednesday July 10th 2013, Dzokhar faced his victim’s families for the first time during his pretrial hearing. Many of the families that were present in the court wanted to be there to seek the peace of mind which they have been waiting for since April. Hearing that the man who coldheartedly injured and murdered a loved one would be sentenced to a lifetime in prison or possibly given the death penalty may appease their hearts. One can only wait and see what will happen to this 19 year old who seems to have lost his way in life.

His options are pretty simple, attorney Judy Clarke who had also represented Timothy McVeigh in his trial, is pulling all the string in order to avoid the death penalty. She hopes that she would be able to come to an agreement with the government by asking Tsarnev to cooperate and provide information he may have about other attacks or attackers. This same tactic was what she used to get McVeigh and the Unabomber life sentences instead of the death penalty. While on the other side, seeing as this is a federal case, the death penalty could be applied if there is significant evidence agains Tsarnev and the juror’s decision is unanimous. It’s safe to assumed that we will all be watching and waiting to see what will be the outcome to one of the biggest disasters of the year.

This year brought with it a series of tragedies from school shootings to bombings, and many begin to wonder what could possibly lead someone to want to take away the lives of innocent people in such an insane way. As we become more and more interconnected in the world, it seems that many have found a way to turn a good thing into a killing machine. Things such as YouTube and Google that are used for our leisure, are used by Tamerlan Tsarnev so he could watch extremist videos that encouraged him and his brother to go through with their attack. How do we move on from this as a community and what would be the right punishment for such a crime? In a state that hasn’t given out the death penalty in almost 70 years, the judge and jury have a difficult task ahead of them. On the one hand, if this case doesn’t deserve the death penalty then what kind of case would? While on the other hand, a life sentence could be seen as sufficient suffering for him, at least he would have to spend the rest of his life thinking about what he did while living under difficult circumstances. It will be a difficult decision to make for the judge as 19 year old Dzokhar Tsarnev awaits to hear his fate in court throughout the next few months.