Books, Not Bullets: Malala Opens School For Syrian Girls to Celebrate 18th Birthday

Malala Yousafzai, who became the youngest person to receive the esteemed Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, celebrated her 18th birthday on Sunday in Lebanon by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls.

At the opening of the Malala Fund girls’ school for secondary education, Malala called on world leaders to invest in ‘books not bullets’.

Malala’s determination and resolve made her an ideal for the whole world when she was shot on a school bus in Pakistan in 2012 by the Taliban for advocating girls’ rights to education. Undeterred, Malala continued campaigning and her hard work won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

In the week leading up to her birthday, she ditched traditional celebrations and instead, asked people across the globe to use social media to push world leaders for increased education funding.

“In just a few days, I will be turning 18… And this year, I am not asking for birthday wishes or presents. I am asking for action. Show world leaders that you believe education—not the military—is a better investment in our future.”

We salute Malala’s undying spirit and vision to bring educational equality in our patriarchal world, the continuous jeopardy that threatens her life. Let us come together and show all Talibans and Laskhar-e-Taibas and the likes that for each Malala they attack, we will have a hundred other Malalas to stand against them.