Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela

Freedom and Equality as a Human Right

Our presentation is going to be around the first and second articles of the Declaration of
the Human Rights. To explore those articles we are going to talk about the experience of two
different personalities, Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela. They are examples to follow
because he defended and she keeps defending their opinions against those who tried / are
trying to silence them and control their lives. To show you their point of view, we decided to
make a possible speech between them (an informal one). Of course that it is impossible now as
Mandela died in 2013 but we imagined an encounter of some personalities, and we are going to
highlight them because they fit in the articles that we chose. One of them, Malala, defended the
rights of girls and women to education and freedom and Mandela, the rights of black people in
South Africa.

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be
made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory
to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any
other limitation of sovereignty.

Malala Mr. Nelson Mandela! Is it really you? I cant believe it!

Mandela Hello! Sorry, but who are you? I cant remember who you are.
Malala My name is Malala Yousafzai. I am eighteen years old and I came from Pakistan. I
won the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Mandela Really? So young? You must have done some really big differences in your country.
So what have you done to win the Nobel Prize?

Malala In my country, there is a group of rebels called The Taliban. They banned some
normal habits from Pakistan like: reading some books, searching on the internet, listening to

some music, they also destroyed some statues that were considered World Heritage. But what
affected us more, Pakistanis, were their acts against Human Rights.

Mandela It sounds awful. Well before I was known, when I was about 35 years old, my
country created a system of racial segregation called Apartheid. Under apartheid the rights, the
associations and movements of the majority of black inhabitants were very limited. I was
arrested and turned slave because of my ideas against them for 13 years before I was released
and continued my fight to end the apartheid.

Malala- I confess that you inspired me with your example of life. In my experience with The
Taliban I was shot by one of them. Despite that, I still fought against their oppression. They
made massacre campaigns, human traffic, and terrorism against civilians. But what made me
angrier about that was the oppression of girls and women. They tried to prevent us from being
educated, forced us to use the Burqa, and if we talk with someone, especially with a man, they
accused us of adultery. They make our lives a living hell they took us everything without
regrets.

Mandela You are very young but a strong fighter. I gained much respect for you and I can
help in your cause whenever you want. I never met a girl with such courage to make a
difference in a fierce environment among the Taliban.

Malala You have always been a hero to me and also to the world. The way you struggled
against the oppressors, inspired me to fight for the Human Rights. No one has the right to
control and manipulate the others.

Mandela I agree with you, after all To be free is not merely to cast off ones chains, but to
live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

Some other quotes by different people who defended the human right to be free,
that are going to work as a conclusion of our work.
-

Freedom is never given; it is won.(A. Philip Randolph)

Freedom is the oxygen of soul.(Moshe Dayan)

The best road to progress is freedom's road.(John F. Kennedy)

Freedom is the only law which genius knows.(James Russell Lowell)

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded

by the oppressed.(Martin Luther King)

Students:

Adrian Barnutiu and Bruna Martins 11B.