Leaving the Valley

Leaving the Valley

(Malala Yousafzai)

Questions & Answers:

1.      1.  Where is Swat Valley situated?
                Swat Valley is situated in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan.

2.       2.What happened at Swat Valley?
                The local Taliban, at times, did not allow girls to attend schools.

3.       3.Where did the author stand before leaving the valley?
                Before leaving the valley, the author stood on their roof looking at the mountains, the snow-topped Mount Elam.

4.      4. How were the trees there?
                The trees all came into leaf. Mainly the fruit of the author’s apricot tree might be eaten by someone else this year.

5.       5.Describe the environment of the valley.
                Everything was silent, pin-drop silent. The river and the wind did not make any sound. The birds were not chirping.

6.       6.Why did the author want to cry?
                The author wanted to cry because she felt in her heart that she might never see her home again.

7.      7. What did the author imagine?
                The author imagined that her school would not close. They would never leave Swat and the valley would be free of the Taliban and they would rejoice.

8.     8.  Except the author, who was crying and who was very composed and courageous?
                Except the author, her cousin’s wife, Honey was crying and the author’s mother was very composed and courageous.

9.       9.What things did the author take before leaving the valley?
                The author took all her books and notebooks in her school bag and then packed another bag of clothes. She also took the trousers from one set and the top from another.

10. 10.What things did not the author take and why?
                The author did not take any of her school awards or photos or any personal belongings.
                She could take the above things because they were travelling in someone else’s car and there was little room.

11.   11.What expensive things did not the author have?
                The author did not have the expensive things like a laptop or jewellery.

12.   12.What valuable items did the author’s family have?
                The author’s family had some valuable items like TV, a fridge and a washing machine.

13.   13.Who are the Pashtuns? What is said about them?
                The Pashtuns are the people who come from the parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan and Pashto, a South-Central Asian language.
                It is said that the Pashtuns prefer to sit on floors rather than chairs.

14.   14.Where did the author’s mother want to take the family?
                The author’s mother wanted to take the family at Shangla.

15.  15. Where is Shangla situated?
                Shangla is a district and it is situated in the Swat district in Pakistan. It is surrounded by mountains.

16.   16.Who had lost a relative and how?
                The author’s parents’ friends had lost a relative in gunfire.

17.   17.Who offered the author’s family a lift?
                Dr Afzal and his family offered the author’s family a lift.

18.   18.How did the author’s family travel by car?
                The author’s mother, father, grandmother, her cousin’s wife, Honey and baby and her brothers were all squashed into the back of Dr Afzal’s van along with his wife and children and the author was in Safina’s car.

19.  19. How did the people and children sit inside the car?
                The children sat on the laps of adults and smaller children sat in their laps inside the car.

20.   20.What does IDP stand for? When did it happen in author’s life?
                IDP stands for Internally Displaced Person.
                It happened in author’s life on May 5, 2009.

21.   21.What were seen on the streets?
                The streets were jam-packed. There were cars everywhere, as well as rikshaws, mule carts and trucks laden with people their belongings.

22.   22.How did thousands of people leave the valley?
                Thousands of people left the valley with just the clothes they had on their backs.

23.   23.What does the word ‘exodus’ mean?
                   The word ‘exodus’ means a large number of people leaving a place together.

24.   24.Why did not the children enjoy the car journey?
                The children did not enjoy the car journey because it was a long slow journey and everyone was very sweaty, crammed in together. Besides, they were all depressed.

25.   25.When did they reach Mardan?
                It was late afternoon by the time they reached Mardan.

26.   26.Why did the author’s father leave them?
                The author’s father left them because he wanted to go to Peshawar.

27.   27.Who was the author’s cousin? Where was he going?
                The author’s cousin was Khanjee. He was going to Besham.

28.   28.How far was the author’s village from Besham?
                From Besham the author’s village was twenty-five kilometres.

29.   29.What was the author’s family village?
                The author’s family village was Shangla.

30.   30.Who stopped the author’s family?
                The army stopped the author’s family at one point.

31.   31.Why was the author’s family frightened?
                The author’s family was frightened because the army would not know who they were and shoot them.

32.   32.Where did the author’s family stay and with whom?
                The author’s family stay in her mother’s village, Karshat with her uncle, Faiz Mohammad and his family.

33.   33.Who was Sumbul?
                Sumbul was the author’s cousin and she was a year older than the author.

34.   34.With whom did the author start to go to school again?
                With Sumbul, the author started to school again.

35.  35. How did the author go to school?
                The author and Sumbul walked to school and the journey took over half an hour.

36.   36.What did the author do with the pocket money?
                The author bought snacks at school with the pocket money that her uncle gave her.

37.   37.What did the author’s family sell?
                The author’s family sold cucumber and watermelon, not sweets and crisps like in Mingora.

38.   38.What poem did the author recite and when?
                The poem that the author recited was ‘A diamond must be cut many times before it yields even a tiny jewel’ on the Parents’ Day and prize-giving ceremony of the school.

39.   39.Why did the author select the above poem?
                The author selected the above poem because through this poem she wanted to describe how one needs to work hard to achieve one’s desires. Malala would do anything to get up and go to school to read and learn.

40.   40.What did Malala keep thinking?
                Malala kept thinking of her school bag at home with copies of Oliver Twist and Romeo and Juliet waiting to be read.

41.   41.How many days after did the author’s family go to Peshawar?
                After the author’s family had been in Shangla for about six weeks, they went to Peshawar.

42.   42Where did Malala and her family travel?
                Malala and her family travelled to Islamabad and then to Haripur.

43.   43.Where did Malala spend het twelfth birth day?
                Malala spent her twelfth birth day at Haripur.

44.   44.How was the author’s eleventh birth day?
                The author’s eleventh birth day was full of joy and merriment. She had shared a cake with her friends and there were balloons also.

45.   45.Where did the author celebrate her eleventh birth day?
                The author celebrated her eleventh birth day at Swat Valley.

About the Author:

46.   46.What was Malala Yousafzai?
                Malala Yousafzai is an activist for the education of girls and women.

47.   47.Where did the author begin her activism?
                The author began her activism in her native Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan.

48.   48What happened when she was 12 years old?
                When Malala was 12 years old, the growing violence in her region forced her to flee.

49.   49.When was the author born and where?
                The author was born in 1997 in Mingora, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

50.   50.Who inspired Malala? When was she attacked? How is she today?
                Malala’s father, an educational activist, inspired her to take up the cause for the girls.
                She was attacked in 2012.
                Today, she is internationally recognized as an advocate for the education of woman.

51.   51.Where from is the story adapted?
                The story is adapted from “I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai”.