Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai yesterday told a group of Ottawa high school students during a surprise visit to their school, “We have to challenge society, we have to challenge communities, we have to raise our voice.”
Family tree of men
While there is much to learn from Ms. Yousafzai, as a genealogist, I was taken aback by one of the comments she made.
In her remarks to the students about empowering women through education and employment, Ms. Yousafzai spoke about her parents, and she shared a story about her family’s genealogy in Pakistan.
She said she was fortunate to have parents who challenged traditional norms. To illustrate her point, she spoke about the courage her father took when he added her name to the 300-year-old family tree — the first female name ever written on it.
Until then, I had not been aware of people or cultures who maintain family trees with only men.
After visiting the school, 19-year-old Ms. Yousafzai attended Parliament where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented her with an honorary Canadian citizenship certificate. She made history as the youngest person ever to address Parliament, and she became the sixth person to receive honorary Canadian citizenship.
There is no question she is a remarkable person.
Coverage of the citizenship event and her inspiring, and sometimes humorous, address to Parliament is in this CBC video on YouTube. It is worth watching.
More about Ms. Yousafzai’s visit to Ottawa and a short video clip of the school visit is in the CBC report, ‘Incredible honour:’ Malala Yousafzai receives honorary Canadian citizenship.
