I spent the evening with Malala and Ziauddin Yousafzai. Here is what happened:

We discussed Afghanistan, Malala's activism and politics.

In December, I had the opportunity to spend an evening with Nobel peace prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, who is also an education activist.

Malala Yousafzai is now one of the world’s most prominent and renowned humanitarians, as she has drawn international attention to the rights of girls education in some of the most deprived parts of the world.

Malala is also Pashtun girl like myself, we both share a similar cultural background, therefore we had much to discuss about culture, politics and society.

In specific, we widely discussed the current humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan caused by the Taliban, Malala’s life, and her incredible ventures and projects which she is working on today.

It was a cold English day, when Ziauddin Yousafzai, a former teacher, activist and also Malala’s father, politely greeted me. “Welcome!” he says in Pashto, as I enter his simple home in a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England.

He joyfully laughs and tells me that he is looking forward to talking to me.

For many, it can be difficult to meet new people for the first time, however, this was not the case in the Yousafzai household, as, within just minutes of entering their home, I sensed immense comfort and familiarity - the welcoming atmosphere allowed me to forget that I was about to spend time with one of the most important campaigners of the past two decades.

As I enter Malala’s home, I recall when I first heard her of her uplifting tale of bravery for standing up to the medieval agenda of the Taliban. In 2012, a 15 year old Malala was shot by gunmen from the Taliban whilst she was on her way home from school in a school bus.

This was simply because Malala was chronicling her life under a pseudonym for a BBC blog, whilst living under Taliban occupation in Swat Valley, Pakistan. During this time, the Taliban was in power and they had banned girls from attending school.

Astonishingly, from a young age of 10 years old, Malala began to stand up for the rights to free and complete education for girls.

Her advocacy for human rights from her small native town of Mingora, (Swat) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has now led her to become one of the world’s most renowned human rights activists.

Finally, I was excited to meet with Malala and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, who welcomed me to his living room. I enter and sit on a comfortable leather sofa whilst being offered a warm cup of traditional Peshawari tea.

(Yes, Peshawari tea is delicious!).

Ziauddin begins to tell me about his extraordinary activism, he does not lack an inch of confidence. I listen attentively, despite having a million questions to ask him. Malala is not with us yet.

“I just tweeted about one hundred days of Taliban’s ban on girls' education in Afghanistan. It's a very dark time,” Ziauddin tells me.

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last year, they pledged to respect women’s rights under the framework of “Islam”. However, Ziauddin argues this is far from the truth: “They are trying to change their image to the world by promising progress on girl’s education, but this is just a pretence”.

He explains that considering the Taliban’s history of suppressing women’s rights, their claims of “respecting women’s rights” seem questionable.

Afghanistan has seen an enormous societal change in the last two decades, but the Taliban hasn’t. This is because during the U.S.-backed government of Afghanistan, Afghan women and girls received an education, they were given freedom and choice, but these fundamental rights seem to be under threat, says Ziauddin.

“Taliban are afraid of nothing more than girls and women with books,” Ziauddin tells me, as he shakes his head in concern.

Currently, the militant organisation is having a devastating impact upon the fate of millions of girls and women in Afghanistan - they have announced that men and women must remain segregated and women must cover their faces to attend to everyday activities.

In fact, last September, the Taliban’s cultural commission announced that women would be forbidden from playing sports. This comes from a government which only recently declared that there will be no women in the administration. It is evident that they have been inspired by the most radical forms of the Islamist ideology.

The tragedy in Afghanistan does not end here, as presently, the country is in a humanitarian crisis. Four months after the Biden Administration withdrew U.S. troops from the country, over twenty million Afghans were thrown into a brink of famine.

The Taliban’s takeover has led to grave political consequences as many countries and international organisations have imposed sanctions, in order to criminalise any type of support for the militant extremist group.

Despite this, Ziauddin reveals that he is trying his best to remain positive for the future of Afghanistan.

“We all need to be as vocal as possible about what is happening in Afghanistan and make the world aware of the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in the country.”

He believes that activism can make a change. After all, he won his own fight against the Taliban and overcame tremendous struggles in his home town in Swat Valley, Pakistan, after they gained power in 2007.

The Taliban gained control of Swat Valley for two years, before they were eventually driven out by the Pakistani military, who fought against them in 2009.

During the Taliban’s regime, they destroyed up to 400 schools, banned music, parties and dancing for the native Pashtun population. They demanded that women cover themselves by wearing the Islamic veil and men grow their beards or they would be severely punished.

The local community in Swat Valley lived in immense fear - they were practically left on the verge of life and death.

Fundamentally, this is why Malala’s activism was so groundbreaking; she courageously brought light to the depravity of the Taliban to international society.

“After Malala spoke out about the right for girls and women’s education, it made a lot of people uncomfortable, and we rapidly made enemies due to her being vocal about the inhumanity happening in our valley ” Ziauddin explained.

This extraordinary act of bravery did not come without sacrifices as Malala nearly lost her life after she survived an assassination attempt, when she was shot in the head by the Taliban.

Consequently, Malala began to suffer from facial paralysis. Ziauddin and his family had to leave Swat Valley for her surgical treatments in Birmingham, England, where she underwent multiple surgeries to restructure her skull and parts of her face.

 “It’s been a traumatic journey, but I’m grateful to God every day that Malala is not only healthy and well but she has just recently graduated from Oxford University.” Ziauddin said.

Since Ziauddin Yousafzai and his family’s life has changed irreversibly, his daughter Malala has surged to global prominence and has become an international ambassador for human rights as well as for the right of education for women and girls.

On top of this, she became the youngest ever Nobel peace prize laureate for her philanthropic work.

Ziauddin and his family have since moved to Britain, where they have begun a new chapter of their life. Life is good, it’s relatively peaceful, he tells me.

However, before this, Ziauddin tells me that he lived a simple life in Swat Valley, a district which is part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. 

He told me that he did not come from a wealthy family and lived within modest means. Despite this, he remained ambitious and eventually became a school teacher, education campaigner and human rights activist.

Ziauddin revealed that during his childhood, men and women were often separated in social settings and women were even forbidden to leave their homes - if they did leave, they would have to leave with a male member of the family.

“I come from a society where my gender made me special and where women were literally invisible,” Ziauddin explained.

This antiquated mindset was prevalent in a patriarchal society such as rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and something Yousafzai was strongly against; he did not want the same fate for his children, especially his daughter Malala.

Ziaduddin further told me that education was nothing but an elusive dream for many. But when the Taliban took over in 2007, this dream seemed to stray even further away.

“The Taliban’s ideology is nothing but misogyny, they believe a woman should just be trapped at home, either cooking or cleaning,” Ziauddin says.

Under the Taliban’s rule in 2007 from 2009, Women were treated like personal possessions, millions were suffering, he explained. It became evident why Ziauddin became so politically active in such a hostile environment, he ultimately felt it was his duty.

“This is why it is so important to raise awareness about Afghanistan, as universal human rights are likely to not be upheld under their barbaric system.” Ziauddin tells me.

Across, I see Malala make her way in the room, as Ziauddin finishes talking - she is dressed in all black and modest Pashtun clothing.

Malala sits next to me, she grabs a warm cup of tea from the table and takes a sip.  We begin to talk, ”Hello, how are you?” she asks, bright-eyed and vocal.

I find Malala to be incredibly approachable and down to earth. She is so focused that her attention does not wander elsewhere, even for a second.

Malala tells me she has recently graduated from the University of Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and now wants to take a break from her higher education to focus on other ventures.

“I have my own non-for-profit organisation, the Malala Fund. The goal is to ensure 12 years of free, safe and quality education for every girl in developing countries, she reveals.

Ziuaddin joins the conversation as he pours more hot tea for himself, he asks me, “Did you know that Pakistan has one of the highest rates of illiteracy for girls in the whole world?”.

He informs me that the Malala Fund is currently active in Pakistan, where a staggering number of 13 million girls in the country are currently out of school.

Ultimately, this means that Pakistan has the second-largest number of out-of-school female students in the world after Nigeria.

It was a revelation to discover the severity of how deprived of education most women are in Pakistan. Ziauddin and I both agree that we take so many of the simple things, such as getting an education for granted.

I look over to Malala, who is keenly listening to our conversation. I ask her, “How were you so brave enough to stand up for your rights at such a young age?”

Malala nods and smiles. "My father inspired me," she says. "The only difference between myself and other girls was that I was lucky enough to have permission to speak out - but other girls may not have had this opportunity”.

In fact, she continues to be be outspoken about the evils of the Taliban even today. In September, she wrote a guest essay for the New York Times titled “Malala: I Survived the Taliban. I Fear for My Afghan Sisters.”

Despite her hardships, it was evident that Malala is dedicated to campaigning against this oppressive ideology. I was taken back by her courage and confidence, and yet here she is, telling me all about her unbelievable life.

The atmosphere of humility made me momentarily forget my worries, which seemed so insignificant and trivial in contrast.

Malala’s journey seemed even more astonishing, knowing the odds stacked against her in an unequal society such as Pakistan’s, which she tells me she still loves very much.

“I love Pakistan, I’m a big fan of the cricket games there,” Malala happily tells me. As the mood lightens, she now sounds much more like a “normal” girl to me. I can relate to her far more so than when we were discussing her incredible activism - but only for a moment before she revealed her current mind blowing project.

In true polymath fashion, tells me she has just signed a multiyear programming partnership with Apple TV.

She joins the ranks of content creators such as Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Will Smith, Octavia Spencer and Jennifer Aniston, who have also signed with Apple TV.

The deal with Apple Inc will collaborate with Malala's new production company, Extracurricular, to produce comedies, documentaries, animation and dramas which will stream on the tech giant’s streaming service.

Malala's vision is to bring new voices and the ideas of young people, women, artists and writers to the platform, which according to her, will bring people together.

It is a unique initiative which is sure to appeal to people from all walks of life, she hopes different cultural norms will coexist together. And what better avenue to achieve this, other than Apple TV, which is available in over one billion screens in over 100 countries and regions across the world.

Of course, Malala’s ventures do not just end here. She revealed that she has personal projects, such as learning how to code.

In fact, last summer, Malala, in a video conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook, discussed the importance of learning to code and gaining new skills.

“Ever since I was young and even at school, I liked to try different things and explore different interests I might enjoy,” she told me.

Malala is a normal girl, she is relatable, humble and friendly yet she has long accredited herself with a string of accomplishments in advocacy, politics and international honours at the young age of 24.

She has a powerful voice, which envisions a world free of inequality and violence and it is ever so clear that she'll stop at nothing to achieve this dream.

Needless to say, the conversation was both inspiring and humbling. Coming face-to-face with the scars of one of the most brutal regimes on the planet, shines a new light on our trivial concerns.

But Malala’s struggle reminds us all that those who rely on terror to maintain power are terrified in the face of ordinary people determined to win their freedom - And we must not lose hope for Afghanistan.