Malala

Occasionally a single person captures the whole world's imagination. Nelson Mandela comes to mind, a man whose wisdom, compassion, tolerance transcended the brutality and evil racism of the regime that he and his followers replaced. Something similar is happening to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot by the Taleban in the Swat Valley because she not only refused to stop going to school but spoke up boldly and eloquently in favour of equal rights to education for girls.  She is 16 now, seemingly fully recovered from the gunshot wound that miraculously did little or no damage to her brain - although it severed her facial nerve and destroyed hearing in one ear. She is articulate, obviously very intelligent, modestly chuffed that she is a candidate for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, in interviews momentarily a bubbly teenager fond of the current teen pop star's "music" - but deadly serious about the cause of equality of educational opportunity for girls and boys. She is also burning with ambition, considering whether medicine or politics offer the best platform for her to advance the causes she believes in. Later this week we will know whether she wins the Nobel Peace Prize. I'll hold this post until the award is announced.

Well, Malala was awarded the European Union's Human Rights Prize, but the Nobel Peace Prize went to a group overseeing removal of chemical weapons from Syria. She would have been credible Nobel Peace prize award winner but perhaps she has been recognized  and feted enough for the time being. If or when she fulfills the promise she shows as a young teen ager there will be time and opportunity later for further recognition and no doubt awards.

What I take away from my observation of her recent performances and speeches is much renewed hope for the future. I'm reminded of David Suzuki's daughter, who spoke most eloquently and movingly to the United Nations when she was 11 or 12 years old. She showed great promise, and it was fulfilled when she was a young woman. Now she is married to a handsome First nations man from Haida Gwaii and devoting the next phase of her life to breeding. Malala may follow a similar trajectory, although she demonstrates  a steely resolve that suggests she may put her public life ahead of private and cultural pressures to marry and have many babies. Time will tell, and it's unlikely that I will be here to observe the ultimate outcome. But my bet, if I had one, would be on Malala giving higher priority to public life and fulfillment than withdrawal, temporary or long term, into marriage and family life.