Malala Turns 21
The Australian Women's Weekly|December 2018

She’s a global icon and an Oxford student who still takes her washing home. In the lead-up to Malala’s first trip Down Under, Christina Lamb joins her humanitarian mission, and 21st birthday celebrations, in Brazil.

Malala Turns 21

Rio’s Sugarloaf Mountain is one of the most beautiful spots on earth to spend a 21st birthday. The girl in candy pink watching a ballet performance on top of the mountain with Copacabana beach spread out below claps and smiles radiantly at her father next to her.

The pint-sized dancers in tutus are from one of Rio’s most violent favelas, the ballet project a chance to dream in a place where their school is frequently closed because of shoot-outs between drug gangs and police. The birthday girl is from the other side of the world and she too knows about guns, having narrowly survived being shot on her school bus, her smile just a little lopsided as a result of damage to the nerve under her left eye.

The world’s most famous schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai, is now a grown woman in lip gloss and designer heels, and these days being Malala is a full-time job requiring a posse of people. With her, apart from her doting dad, Ziauddin, is an entourage of bodyguards, a tigress like American media manager who previously worked for Brad Pitt, and a trio of social media ‘influencers’. She is so famous she is known by just one name: Malala. When she was 16, her birthday – July 12 – was officially declared Malala Day by the United Nations.

It’s a remarkable journey from October 2012 when she woke from a coma thousands of miles from home, in a UK hospital bed with a large teddy bear next to her, a tube in her neck and a bandage around her head where a Taliban bullet had narrowly missed her brain.

Denne historien er fra December 2018-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra December 2018-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYSe alt
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10 mins  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024