Islamabad (CNN) -- I first came across Ziauddin Yousafzai when I interviewed him in 2007. He was running his own school and had set up a peace council in Pakistan's restive Swat Valley región.
An eloquent English speaker, he was very keen to tell me his story on air.
Our first conversation was in whispers; the Taliban had started to make inroads in the Swat Valley and were marching around the streets he told me. He was whispering as if he thought the Taliban might hear at that moment.
Oppression
In a male-dominated society where the cultural oppression of women is rife, husbands, fathers, brothers -- men like Ziauddin -- are real saviors. They help their wives, sisters, daughters become all they can be; they encourage support and stand by them against all odds. The majority of women here in Pakistan that I meet know their rights, or know they are capable of much more and have huge ambitions. It's the men in Pakistan who need to respect them and support them. The men who are with them and the men in authority.
Why Malala's bravery inspires us
Yes, Pakistan needs more girls like Malala. I have met many who are, who defy the Taliban by going to school every day in the North West and tribal areas. I have met young children with little money for books and pens but who run up mountains in Kashmir and walk miles in the searing desert heat of Sindh to go to school. There any many Malalas in Pakistan. But what Pakistan really needs right now is more men like Ziauddin Yousafzai.
When I read the whole story from family, I thanked God for the liberty He offers me every day in my country, Honduras. This also make me think that not every day I thank God for his blessings.
Every family is different, but this special family is outsanding. Even though they live in a country in which Christianity is sometimes neglected, they know how to treat ech other with love.
Without men like Ziauddin, there will be no women like Malala.
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