Malala Yousafzai shares what she wants for her 21st birthday

The Pakistani activist is the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

July 12, 2018, 4:06 AM

What does Malala Yousafzai want for her 21st birthday today?

"My birthday wish is that all girls can have access to safe and quality education," the Pakistani human rights activist told "Good Morning America," from Northeast Brazil, where she celebrated the big 21 by advocating for local girls' rights to attend school.

The world watched Malala come of age under Taliban rule in northwest Pakistan. At just 15 years old, Malala was on the bus home from school when a masked man approached the vehicle and demanded to know: "Who is Malala?"

Nobody on the bus answered, though several girls turned to look at her. He then lifted a gun and shot the teen in the head.

PHOTO: Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai
GMA Photo Illustration, Getty

Malala turned the harrowing experience into a launching pad for her already budding work as an activist for women and girls.

After surviving an assassination attempt, she continued to tirelessly advocate for the education of girls around the world, founded her own non-profit, wrote a bestselling memoir, starred in a documentary about her life and became the youngest-ever Nobel Laureate -- all before the age of 21.

And she isn't even taking today off.

How is Malala celebrating her birthday?

"I am celebrating my birthday in Brazil with these amazing and incredible girls," she told "GMA" in a special message on her birthday. She said she has been having an "amazing time," playing football and doing graffiti with local schoolgirls as well as just "learning from them and learning from their experiences."

PHOTO: Malala Yousafzai does graffiti with girls from Rede Nami, a forum for young women to express themselves and speak out through street art.
Malala Yousafzai does graffiti with girls from Rede Nami, a forum for young women to express themselves and speak out through street art.
Courtesy Luisa Dorr

She spent the days before her birthday in the city of Salvador, in the Bahia state of Brazil, where she met with a local schoolgirl named Maikele. Maikele is part of the indigineous Tupinamba tribe from northeastern Brazil, and her father was assassinated as part of a territorial conflict, leaving behind her mother with nine children to take care of.

Despite her household duties, Maikele has always attended indigenous schools. She used to wake up at 4 a.m., walk five miles, and then take an hour long bus ride just to get to the local school. Though Maikele currently lives in a community where she can take a bus to school without trekking five miles, the bus is often cancelled due to rain or poor infrastructure. Malala spent the day with girls like Maikele to learn more about what barriers they face just trying to get an education.

"I'm also here to highlight the issues that these young girls are facing, and that there are 1.5 million girls in Brazil who are out of school, and we see this huge disparity when it comes to the Afro-Brazilian and indigenous population in Brazil," she added. "So something needs to be done."

"I'm here to raise my voice and stand with them and invest in local activists here," she added. "My birthday wish is that all girls can have access to safe and quality education."

Malala with indigenous Brazilian girls in 2018.
In 2018, Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai met with indigenous girls from Bahia state. Maikele, left, is Tupinambá, an indigenous tribe from northeastern Brazil. Brazil is the world's eighth largest economy but 1.5 million girls are still out of school, denied an education because of racism, exploitation and poverty.
Luisa Dorr/Malala Fund

She described her hunger for education in a 2013 interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer, saying: "In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It's their normal life."

"But in other part of the world, we are starving for education," she added. "It's like a precious gift. It's like a diamond."

How Malala has spent past birthdays

Malala has spent her past birthdays doing what she is most passionate about: Advocating for the rights of women and girls to get an education.

PHOTO: In 2017, Malala Yousafzai visited a camp in Mosul for internally displaced persons where she was hosted by 13-year-old Nayir.
In 2017, Malala Yousafzai visited a camp in Mosul for internally displaced persons where she was hosted by 13-year-old Nayir. Nayir's family fled Mosul in April after ISIS took her father and destroyed their home. Nayir said that when she was able to return to the classroom at the camp, "it was as if all my hopes came back."
Malin Fezehai / Malala Fund

Last year, she spend her birthday in a camp for Internally Displaced People in Iraq, where she met with 13-year-old Nayir who fled her hometown of Mosul after ISIS took over the city. Nayir said she was out of school for three years, but after beginning to attend school at the IDP camp, she says "it was as if all my hopes came back."

PHOTO: In 2017, Malala Yousafzai visited a camp in Mosul for internally displaced persons where she was hosted by 13-year-old Nayir.
In 2017, Malala Yousafzai visited a camp in Mosul for internally displaced persons where she was hosted by 13-year-old Nayir. Nayir's family fled Mosul in April after ISIS took her father and destroyed their home. Nayir said that when she was able to return to the classroom at the camp, "it was as if all my hopes came back."
Tess Thomas/Malala Fund

The year before, Malala spent her birthday in Kenya, where she met Rahma, a schoolgirl who escaped an arranged child marriage and fled to a refugee camp.

PHOTO: In 2017, Malala Yousafzai visited a camp in Mosul for internally displaced persons where she was hosted by 13-year-old Nayir.
In 2016, Malala Yousafzai visited Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya where she met Rahma (pictured in photo). Rahma came to Dadaab at age 13, having never set foot in a classroom. A few years later, she graduated primary school and secondary school in Dadaab.
Malin Fezehai/Malala Fund

In 2015, Malala rang in her 18th birthday by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls living in an informal camp in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

PHOTO:On her 18th birthday in July 2015, Malala Yousafzai opened a school for Syrian refugee girls living in an informal camp in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
On her 18th birthday in July 2015, Malala Yousafzai opened a school for Syrian refugee girls living in an informal camp in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Conflict in Syria forced 13-year-old Tasneem (pictured in photo) out of school and she was able to re-enroll in this new school.
Malin Fezehai / Malala Fund

In 2014, Malala spent her birthday visiting the families of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria.