Guest Post: Women Who Inspire with Lemon Freckles

Today I'm so happy to share a feature that is a regular over at Lemon Freckles, Women Who Inspire. Toni is a lovely English gal, and I know you'll love her blog, so please take second and pop over to say hello. But wait, hang on! Read her post first, then say hello. OK? Here she is:

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Over at Lemon Freckles I run a weekly blog post on 'Women Who Inspire', which gives me the opportunity to share about some inspirational women from around the world and also hopefully inspire some others, as well as myself.  I hope you enjoy the post and I would really love to hear your thoughts and opinions.  Happy readings! 

Malala Yousafzai

I've decided to do this weeks post on someone I guess isn't classed as a woman but rather a girl, however after reading her incredible story I knew there was so much to gain from her life already, even though she is only 15 years old.

Malala Yousafzai first got the attention of the public at the tender age of eleven when she wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC which detailed her life under the Taliban rule in Mingora. On her blog she shared about her fear of the Taliban but how she would not allow them to hold her back from gaining a education and wanting to become a doctor.  

A year went by and the New York Times contacted her to do a documentary on her life and the effects of her school being shut down by the Taliban.  As time went on she became more and more public with various media outlets contacting her, wanting to learn more of her situation and the effects the Taliban on her and other people in her village.  Yousafzai's voice was being heard around the world and was gaining the attention as the press, as well as the Taliban. In 2011 she was even nominated for the Children's Peace Prize, which was also around the time she decided to change her career  route from being a doctor to a politician.

At 14 years old Yousafzai came up against something no one, let alone a young girl, should ever be faced with, when a masked gunman came onto her school bus and shot her in the head and neck. A Taliban spokesman confirmed that she had been a target due to her crusade for women to be allowed education and that this should be a "lesson" for others. After being in critical care for some time and being sent to the United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation she survived and is now back where she should be, in education. Yousafzai will be turning 16 this year and what will she be doing to celebrate her birthday? She will be flying to New York, where she will be giving her first public speech at the United Nations, which I know I personally cannot wait to hear what she has to share. This beautifully courageous young woman has so much to give and I can't wait to see what an incredible impact she is going to have on this world. 

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