Malala Day is not my day. It is the day of every girl and every boy. It is a day when we come together to raise our voices, so that those without a voice can be heard.

If people were silent, nothing would change.

I reassured my mother that it didn’t matter to me if my face was not symmetrical. Me, who had always cared about my appearance, how my hair looked! But when you see death, things change. “It doesn’t matter if I can’t smile or blink properly,” I told her. “I’m still me, Malala. The important thing is God has given me my life.

I want poverty to end in tomorrow's Pakistan. I want every girl in Pakistan to go to school.

I don't want to be thought of as the 'girl who was shot by the Taliban' but the 'girl who fought for education. This is the cause to which I want to devote my life.

I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls.

We must believe in the power and strength of our words. Our words can change the world.