I am Malala

tourists, is now seen as a place of fear. Foreigners who want to visit have to get a No Objection Certificate from the authorities in Islamabad. Hotels and craft shops are empty. It will be a long time before tourists return.
    Over the last year I’ve seen many other places, but my valley remains to me the most beautiful place in the world. I don’t know when I will see it again but I know that I will. I wonder what happened to the mango seed I planted in our garden at Ramadan. I wonder if anyone is watering it so that one day future generations of daughters and sons can enjoy its fruit.
    Today I looked at myself in a mirror and thought for a second. Once I had asked God for one or two extra inches in height, but instead he made me as tall as the sky, so high that I could not measure myself. So I offered the hundred raakat nafl prayers that I had promised if I grew.
    I love my God. I thank my Allah. I talk to him all day. He is the greatest. By giving me this height to reach people, he has also given me great responsibilities. Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country – this is my dream. Education for every boy and every girl in the world. To sit down on a chair and read my books with all my friends at school is my right. To see each and every human being with a smile of happiness is my wish.
    I am Malala. My world has changed but I have not.

Glossary
    aba – affectionate Pashto term, ‘father’
    ANP – Awami National Party, Pashtun nationalist political party
    baba – affectionate term for grandfather or old man
    badal – revenge
    bhabi – affectionate Urdu term, literally ‘my brother’s wife’
    bhai – affectionate Urdu term, literally ‘my brother’
    chapati – unleavened flatbread made from flour and water
    dyna – open-backed van or truck
    FATA – Federally Administered Tribal Areas, region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan governed under a system of indirect rule started in British times
    Hadith – saying or sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him
    Haj – the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam (along with the confession of faith, daily prayer, fasting during Ramadan and alms-giving), which every Muslim who can afford to should perform once in their lifetime
    haram – prohibited in Islam
    hujra – traditional Pashtun meeting place for men
    imam – local preacher
    IDP – internally displaced person
    ISI – Inter Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s biggest intelligence agency
    Jamaat-e-Islami – Party of Islam, Pakistan conservative party
    JUI – Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Assembly of Islamic clergy, Pakistan conservative political party closely linked to the Afghan Taliban which advocates strict enforcement of Islamic law
    jani – dear one
    jani mun – soulmate
    jihad – holy war or internal struggle
    jirga – tribal assembly
    khaista – handsome one
    khan – local lord

    KPK – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, literally ‘Area of Pashtuns’, until 2010 called North-West Frontier Province, one of the four provinces of Pakistan
    lashkar – local militia
    LeT – Lashkar-e-Taiba, literally ‘Army of the Pure’, one of Pakistan’s oldest and most powerful militant groups, active in Kashmir and with close links to the ISI
    madrasa – school for Islamic instruction
    maulana, mufti – Islamic scholar
    mohalla – district
    MQM – Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Karachi-based party representing Muslims who fled India at Partition (1947)
    nang – honour
    PML – Pakistan Muslim League, conservative political party founded in 1962 as successor to the Muslim League, the only major party in Pakistan at Partition, which was banned in 1958 along with all other parties
    PPP – Pakistan People’s Party, centre-left party founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1967, later led by his daughter Benazir and currently co-chaired by her husband Asif Zardari and their son Bilawal
    Pashtunwali – traditional behavioural code of Pashtuns
    pir – hereditary saint
    pisho – cat
    purdah – (of women) segregation or seclusion, wearing the veil
    qaumi – national
    sabar – patience
    shalwar kamiz/salwar kamiz – traditional outfit of loose tunic and trousers worn by both men and women
    surah – chapter of the Holy Quran
    swara – practice of resolving a tribal feud by handing over a woman or young girl
    talib – religious student, but has come to mean member of Taliban militant group
    tapa/tapey (plural) – genre of Pashto folk poetry having two lines, the first line