From postcard to in person: my story of meeting Malala
Luiza shares what she learned from Malala and other teens across Latin America.
Earlier this month, Luiza travelled from Brazil to join Malala in Mexico City— the latest stop on her Girl Power Trip. The two spent an afternoon together with girls from Colombia and Mexico. Over lunch, they discussed the barriers to girls’ education in their communities and the experiences of girls across Latin America.
Luiza writes about her journey—from sending Malala a postcard to meeting her in person and learning from other girls across Latin America.
Leia o que Luiza escreveu em português.
I Met Malala
by Luiza Moura
“I sent it!” This is the story of how one postcard to Malala began one of the most crazy and incredible journeys of my life began.
I’ve always been an admirer of Malala. After my parents told me about her story, I did everything I could to research and better understand Pakistani history.
I then followed Malala Fund on all social networks, hoping for a post saying Malala might be coming to Brazil. But what actually happened was even better.
Earlier this year, Malala announced her Girl Power Trip. She wanted to hear from girls around the world to understand a little more about the barriers to girls’ education in each country. Since she could not travel the whole world, she asked for postcards with their messages.
That’s when I decided to send a postcard so that maybe she could help Brazil solve some of its many problems.
I sent that card in April. I told her about the poor quality of public education in Brazil and the overcrowding of government schools.
This summer, I received an email that Malala Fund read my postcard, liked it very much and wanted to do an interview with me for their blog. I went into shock. I showed it to my parents. “Really? Is it for real? Is it really happening?”
It really was. During the interview, they asked general things, like what do you like to study? They also asked me what are like the public schools in Brazil and about my favourite movie.
The invitation arrived the next day. “Luiza, you are being invited to meet Malala in Mexico! “ If the shock of the interview was great, the invitation was even better. I could not stop crying.
One of the biggest problems before the trip was the saga of getting a passport. I didn’t have one and it was crazy getting one. Run to the Federal Police, take a photo, call to find out where it is. But on Friday, a week before the trip, I had my passport in hand.
And then me and my grandmother embarked for Mexico City. On the first night, I met Maria from Colombia who was also there for the meeting with Malala. Due to guerilla conflict in her country, she was forced to leave her home.
The next day, I was sitting with Maria and Mariana from Mexico when Malala appeared. Blue-green clothes and pink scarf. “Hello, how are you? I’m Malala,” she said. I was shaking so hard that when I took the picture, I could not smile.
But the real meeting took place during lunchtime, when we took a cooking class and ate a meal together.
At lunchtime, I sat down in front of her. I told her about the overcrowding of schools and how the governor of São Paulo wanted to close more than 94 schools in 2015. I also told her about the various cases of young people who become pregnant and leave school because they are no longer able to study.
But I also heard a lot that day. From Maria, I learned about the guerrillas in Colombia, what it’s like to be threatened and having to leave your home behind and adapt to a new place. Still, she stood her ground. She finished what we call here Ensino Médio and is now a dance teacher but dreams someday to go to college to study social communications.
From Alma and Sydney from Oaxaca, I discovered what is like to live in a place where weddings are still arranged and where girls have to leave school to take care of their children. I watched as they made the sopes in a brilliant way. There is a saying in Oaxaca that for a girl to be a good cook she should not feel pain in the tips of the fingers as you turn the sopes on the hot baking sheet. Both achieved it.
From Malala, I heard that her favourite ice cream flavor is vanilla. I heard she likes England. I received an autographed book. And I heard a “thank you” that made my day.
I gave Malala a book by Paulo Freire to show a little of Brazilian education. She thanked me and said she loved it.
I was also able to hear from her father, Ziauddin, who encouraged me to participate in student council and to engage early in the struggle for education.
I was able to see that Malala is a real person like all of us, even though she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
I was able to make new friends with amazing stories. I’ll remember with great joy all the moments that we spent together.
I got to know Malala.
In April, Malala kicked off her #GirlPowerTrip to meet with girls like Luiza and fight for their futures. Each girl has a unique story to tell — and their voices are our most powerful weapons in the fight for education and equality.
