Name: Craig Kielburger
When it began: started his organization at age 12
City: Unionville, Ontario
Website: www.freethechildren.org
Free the Children was founded by 12-year-old Craig Kielburger in 1995 after reading about a Pakistani boy, Iqbal, who was murdered for speaking out against child labour. Until then, Craig had never heard about child labour, and wasn’t even sure where Pakistan was on the world map, but the differences between his life and Iqbal’s shocked him. Ten years later and Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million young people involved in their programs in 45 countries.
What inspired you to start Free the Children when it came to issues concerning the well-being of children?
I can vividly remember the image of him, a young boy wearing a bright red vest, with his fist clenched defiantly in the air. This picture corresponded to the story of a Pakistani boy, splashed on the front page of the Toronto Star with the headline “Battled Child Labor, Boy, 12, Murdered”.
Craig with kids in Ecuador.
The article told the story of Iqbal Masih, who was sold into bonded child labour at the age of four. He had spent six years working fourteen hours a day, six days a week. At the age of ten, he escaped with the help of a local human rights organization and began traveling the world and speaking out against child labour, and by his 12th birthday, Iqbal had helped free more than 3000 children. Yet he was never able to realize his impact, when in April 1995, he was shot dead upon a return trip to Pakistan. I was 12 when I read the article—the same age as Iqbal when he died.
I held his story up as a mirror against my own and realized the profound differences between the two. We lived in two different worlds, but we were both children who deserved to laugh and play, to go to school, and above all, be loved. Iqbal’s story, changed my life. Free the Children started in his memory.
When you first got started, what kind of challenges did you face and how did you tackle them? Were there any challenges that you faced specifically because you were a youth?
While Free the Children was founded on the basis of ending child exploitation and poverty, the greatest challenge was in proving that young people were not apathetic and indifferent, but important change makers. At Free the Children, we made it our task to show the world that young people were in fact resourceful, creative, and insightful, and had an uncanny ability to channel hopelessness and frustration into positive action! Who could understand young people’s issues better than young people themselves?
What would you consider as your greatest accomplishments?
At Free the Children, we are extremely proud of the successes of our youth. We have grown from a group of 12 year-olds to the largest network of children helping children! Free the Children has constructed 400 schools around the world, providing more than 35,000 children with the gift of education and delivered 200,000 school and health kits to students around the world. Nevertheless, our greatest accomplishment lies in shifting attitudes, overturning the wave of youth apathy and breaking down the barrier of adult skepticism in the power of young people. This is what makes Free the Children so unique.
Is there someone you admire, or something that inspires you everyday to continue your work?
Craig working with volunteers.
Throughout the years, I have had the opportunity to travel the world, meeting with royalty, heads of state, Nobel Prize recipients, celebrities, and corporate moguls. Nevertheless, I draw the greatest inspiration from the children—heroes and sheroes like the street kids I encountered in India, who carried their friend from place to place because he did not have legs and they did not want to leave him behind, or the street child in Thailand who peeled the orange she had and before taking some for herself—she shared it among her friends. Meeting these children is the greatest gift and honour, and it is their spirit of hope and resilience that motivates me to continue when facing disillusionment.
What advice would you give to our EcoKids who are itching to do something just like you did?
Many drops of water make a mighty ocean. Keep in mind that starting an organization or traveling half way around the world to help others is not necessary to make a difference, rather small, simple actions go a long way! Whether you decide to perform a play and spread awareness about the state of the environment, adopt a tree, or participate in a schoolyard clean-up, you are reaching out and making a positive difference in the world! In order to get started, we have put together seven easy steps that will help you become a more effective social advocate. The seven steps are as follows:
- Step #1: Find Your Passion, Choose your Issue
- Step #2: Research the reality
- Step #3: Build Your “Dream Team”
- Step #4: Meet around the round table
- Step #5: Set Your Mission, Set Your Goals!
- Step #6: Take Action!
- Step #7: Bring in the FUNK!
The description for each of the seven steps on helping you become a more effective social advocate can be found in this PDF from the Free the Children website.
