Meeting Malala

Malala Yousafzai, only 11 days older than myself, found out that she won the Nobel Peace Prize in the middle of her chemistry class. She said that, when her school’s principal walked in the room, she thought at first that she might be in trouble. When her principal told her the big news, she was in complete disbelief.

I know this because at the end of September, I had the privilege of hearing Malala speak in Montreal at the Influence Orbis conference.

Malala was the keynote speaker at the end of an inspiring day. My friend and I trekked all the way from Bishop’s University, skipped our classes, and spent the whole day tweeting and going to all of the conference’s events. There was a contest that if you tweeted with the #influencemtl, you could win the chance to meet Malala in person. Unfortunately, we both tweeted so much our accounts were actually blocked. Sometimes enthusiasm can go a bit too far.

But we took more from that day than a social media victory. I do admit, it felt strange and hypocritical to skip a day of my university education to hear from a girl who continues to fight for the right to education. All I could take from it was how lucky I am to have had the chance to meet her, and the chance to go back to my school at the end of the day.

On Oct. 9, 2012, a man from the Taliban shot Malala when she was on the bus going home from school. Up until then, at only 15 years old, Malala had already been vocal in advocating for girls’ rights to education. The Taliban’s hope was that this murder, or at least its attempt, would silence her and her supporters.

I had the privilege of hearing many powerful women’s voices that day. From Nalie Agustin, a wellness blogger and metastatic breast cancer thriver, and Malala Yousafzai herself, there was inspiration everywhere. When given platforms to speak and share, women cultivate tremendous power. There was an energy felt among every person at this conference that told us we could do anything, create anything, and be anything. Malala embodies this kind of power and her story is proof that not even the most brutal kinds of violence can supress it.

So yes, I think that was worth skipping class to learn.

Rebecca Buxton is working on her thesis at Bishop’s University and will be attending law school next fall.

Some Facts about Girls’ education

According to UNESCO estimates, 130 million girls between the age of 6 and 17 are out of school and 15 million girls of primary-school age—half of them in subsaharan Africa— will never enter a classroom.

Poverty remains the most important factor for determining whether a girl can access an education. For example, in Nigeria, only 4 percent of poor young women in the North West zone can read, compared with 99 percent of rich young women in the South East. Studies consistently reinforce that girls who face multiple disadvantages — such as low family income, living in remote or underserved locations, disability or belonging to a minority ethno-linguistic group — are farthest behind in terms of access to and completion of education.

Violence also negatively impacts access to education and a safe environment for learning. For example, in Haiti, recent research highlights that one in three Haitian women (ages 15 to 49) has experienced physical and/or sexual violence, and that of women who received money for sex before turning 18 years old, 27 percent reported schools to be the most common location for solicitation.

Child marriage is also a critical challenge. Child brides are much more likely to drop out of school and complete fewer years of education than their peers who marry later. This affects the education and health of their children, as well as their ability to earn a living. According to a recent report, more than 41,000 girls under the age of 18 marry every day and putting an end to the practice would increase women’s expected educational attainment, and with it, their potential earnings. According to estimates, ending child marriage could generate more than $500 billion in benefits annually each year

Every day, girls face barriers to education caused by poverty, cultural norms and practices, poor infrastructure, violence, and fragility.. source: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/g irlseducation.

Support

Because I am a Girl: https://plancanada.ca/because-i-am-a-girl.

Every day, millions of girls around the world are denied their basic human rights – simply because they're girls. Because I am a Girl is Plan lnternational's global initiative that supports the youthled movement for girls' rights and gender equality.

Malala Fund:

https://www.malala.org/girls-education.

Malala Fund breaks down the barriers preventing more than 130 million girls around the world from going to school. Malala is fighting to give back to girls what poverty, war and discrimination tried to take away.

The World Bank: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation

Girls’ education is a strategic development priority for the World Bank.