One day, while searching for the comics in his local newspaper, Canadian Craig Kielburger’s eye was drawn to the headline "BATTLED CHILD LABOUR, BOY, 12, MURDERED." Craig was also twelve. The story was of Iqbal Mashih, who was sold into slavery at age six by his parents to pay off a debt of about twelve US dollars. When he was ten, Iqbal escaped from his kidnappers and he became an activist against child labor in Pakistan -- only to be killed to insure his silence. Craig was stunned. "Surely slavery had been abolished throughout the world by now," he thought. "If it wasn't, why had I never heard about it?"
Having no idea what the issues of child labor were, Craig began to do some research at his local library, and became more and more horrified with each new piece of information. The very next day, Craig approached his seventh grade teacher about speaking in front of his class about this issue. After explaining the problem, he gained the support and dedication of his peers and thus Free the Children International began.
What started in Craig's den with twelve classmates now has 100,000 members in more than 20 countries. And this is no ordinary nonprofit organization: it is run for kids, by kids! Only kids (under the age of 18) are allowed to represent the organization or even vote on an issue. They raise all of their own money through fundraising, donations and grants.
In fact, the organization serves a two-fold service. Along with the fight against the exploitation of children, Free the Children's mission is to empower kids to become active in their communities and in the world. In the Leadership Education and Development (L.E.A.D) camps, Free the Children helps children develop the skills to become leaders: learning how giving speeches, organize others, start a campaign. And then those kids turn around and use the techniques they have learned to help fight abuses against children. As Craig says, "We are training an army that doesn't carry guns, doesn't advocate violence, but are marching for social change."
Free the Children has just reached their 5-year anniversary. To date, they have built 200 schools in places like Nicaragua, Haiti and India, and trained over 5000 kids in their leadership camps/conferences. But Craig believes the greatest accomplishment is deeper than those numbers. "We proved that kids could do it. When young people come together, work together, they are unstoppable. And if it all disappears overnight, this is the first step in creating a children's movement."
As a representative of Free the Children, Craig has spoken all over the world, been a guest on numerous television programs (Oprah, 60 Minutes, CNN), and featured in a variety of newspapers and magazines (Newsweek, USA Today, NY Times, People). He has met and been on panels with the likes of Al Gore, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, and Mother Teresa. For his dedication and service, Craig has also been honored with a variety of awards: the Roosevelt Freedom Medal, the State of the World Forum Award, Ambassador of the First Children's Embassy in Sarajevo and the Reebok Youth Action Award (which is the same award Iqbal Masih was given before his death).
The organization has evolved from dealing with just child labor to all sorts of issues that affect children worldwide. Free the Children is working to promote education by providing supplies to helping fund and build schools. They document a variety of projects to get involved with or help sponsor on their website. Craig and Free the Children have also created a list of ways that you can, not only help the organization, but also work for the cause on your own.
At the ripe old age of seventeen, Craig gets frustrated when he hears parents or educators talking about how they must shelter and protect children from the harsh realities of the world. He believes that you can't wait until people are adults to teach them about politics and activism. "Do we want to raise a generation of bystanders or a generation that are socially active and want to change the world?" That is a question we should all answer.
