By Malala Yousafzai wasn’t like most of her Pakistani schoolmates.
She wrote a blog for the BBC about the struggle young girls face to get an education in the Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She had been an outspoken women’s education activist and won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize. Her efforts brought her international fame and ire from the local arm of the Taliban.
On her way home from school on Oct. 9, her bus was stopped. A man came on and asked for Yousafzai by name. He pointed a gun at her head and fired.
Yousafzai survived, and on the other side of the world, Cal State Long Beach student Joseph Flores is doing all he can to help her.
Flores, a sophomore journalism major, said with the turbulent state of California’s higher education system, Yousafzai’s struggle seemed relatable.
“It hits home,” he said. “She’s fighting for education.”
Inspired by Yousafzai, Flores went to work. He started a campaign last Tuesday to raise money for Yousafzai on Indiegogo, a website that allows people and organizations to fundraise for nearly any cause.
Flores set a goal of $3,000, and by Thursday he raised $100. His campaign, however, was then shut down on the same day.
Indiegogo, Flores said, went through and cleansed their system of all fundraisers for Yousafzai not directly linked to her and her family because of a large number of accounts falsely claiming to be raising money for Yousafzai. Flores said he was disheartened but determined to continue his efforts.
Meanwhile, Yousafzai was taken to the United Kingdom for medical treatment and was reunited with her family after several days of being apart. Her father said she was recovering at an “encouraging speed,” according to the New York Times.
After several days of communication, Indiegogo gave Flores permission to put his fundraiser back up by Sunday. However, in that time, Flores had contacted Mariam Chughtai, a Pakistani doctoral student at Harvard who is involved with Yousafzai’s official fundraising campaign. Chughtai, Flores said, urged him to reevaluate his fundraising process.
Now, Flores will raise money independently and give the money to the main campaign started by Chughtai.
“She told me that I should try to focus my efforts on their campaign,” he said. “If I could raise money and donate it their campaign, it would be just as good.”
Flores said he took Chughtai’s advice, and is rallying support from student leaders, like Associated Student’s Inc., and telling Yousafzai’s story to anyone who will listen. He will contribute the money to the Malala Yousufzai Family Fund, which still has the campaign running on Indiegogo.
“My goal was to raise awareness of what’s going on,” he said. “If we bring more awareness to her, she’ll be recognized more and it will bring more attention to her cause. She has the potential to actually bring change to Pakistan.”
Flores said he is planning ways to raise money for Yousafzai, and hopes that her story will help heighten awareness of Middle East issues here in the U.S.
“A great injustice is going on in the Middle East, and no one seems to care because it’s not their problem,” he said. “The whole Middle East has been treated unfairly for many, many years, and nobody seems to understand the great amount of suffering and injustice they’re going through.”
Students can contribute to the main fund at www.indiegogo.com/FriendsofMalala.
