Malala sets up education fund
BRITAIN/PAKISTAN
THE Pakistani schoolgirl campaigner who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban has spoken of being given a ‘‘second life’’ in her first public statement and of setting up a fund to help ‘‘every girl, every child, to be educated’’.
Malala Yousafzai, 15, who was attacked in Pakistan by Taliban gunmen after campaigning for girls’ rights, had surgery on her skull and ear at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham at the weekend.
In a video recorded before her latest operation, she said: ‘‘Today you can see that I’m alive. I can speak, I can see you, I can see everyone and . . . I’m getting better, day by day.
‘‘It’s because of the prayers of people. God has given me this new life. This is a second life, a new life.
‘‘I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated and for that reason we have organised Malala Fund.’’
The fund supports her campaign for the right to education for children across the world.
When she was shot on a school bus on October 9, Malala escaped death by a matter of inches as the bullet entered just above her left eye, ‘‘grazing’’ her brain, and ran along her jaw.
Doctors are hopeful that the latest procedures will be the last she has to have.
Malala is likely to secure permanent residence in Britain after her father was granted a job with the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham.