When he finally found my father, he learned that he had heard a woman crying that her husband was trapped in their house and he had rushed in to save him. Then he helped them save their fridge. Hidayatullah was furious. ‘You saved this woman’s husband but not your own house!’ he said. ‘Was it because of the cry of a woman?’

当他终于找到我的父亲时，才知道原来父亲听到一个女人在哭着呼救，说她的丈夫被困在屋里，所以他跑去救人了。然后，他还帮他们把冰箱搬到安全的地方。希达亚图拉气炸了。“你放着自己的家不管，跑去救这个女人的丈夫！”他说，“是因为呼救的是个女人的关系吗？”

When the waters receded, they found their home and school destroyed: their furniture, carpets, books, clothes and the audio system entirely caked in thick foul-smelling mud. They had nowhere to sleep and no clean clothes to change into. Luckily, a neighbour called Mr Aman-ud-din took them in for the night. It took them a week to clear the debris. They were both away when, ten days later, there was a second flood and the building again filled with mud. Shortly afterwards they had a visit from an official of WAPDA, the water and power company, who claimed their meter was rigged and demanded a bribe. When my father refused, a bill arrived with a large fine. There was no way they could pay this so my father asked one of his political friends to use his influence.

等洪水退后，他们发现，家园和学校都毁了：家具、地毯、书籍、衣服和音响系统，全都浸在发臭的烂泥当中。他们没有地方睡觉，也没有干净的衣服换。幸运的是，他们的邻居阿曼.乌丁收留他们过了一夜。之后，他们花了一个星期才清理完那些残骸。十天之后，当他们都不在学校时，第二场洪水来袭，又是泥泞一片。不久后，水电公司的人来访，称他们的水电表出了故障，要他们塞钱解决。在父亲拒绝后，他们收到一张账单，上面写着一大笔罚金，他们根本无力付款。父亲不得不找了一个在政治圈里的朋友，帮他处理了这件事。

It started to feel as though the school was not meant to be, but my father would not give up on his dream so easily. Besides, he had a family to provide for. I was born on 12 July 1997. My mother was helped by a neighbour who had delivered babies before. My father was in the school waiting and when he heard the news he came running. My mother was worried about telling him he had a daughter not a son, but he says he looked into my eyes and was delighted.

看来办学的梦想注定要失败了，此外，父亲还有一个家庭要养。但父亲不是轻易就会放弃的人。1997年7月12日，我出生了。一个之前曾经帮忙接生过的邻居来帮助我母亲生产，而父亲则在学校里等着。当他听到消息时，一路跑着回到家。母亲本来很为生了个女儿而担心，但父亲说他看着我的眼睛时，觉得好快乐。

‘Malala was a lucky girl, ’ says Hidayatullah. ‘When she was born our luck changed.’

“马拉拉是个幸运的女孩，”希达亚图拉说，“她一出生，我们的运气就改变了。”