FREE THE CHILDREN

I first heard Craig Kielburger speak to 700 people at the State of the World Forum in San Francisco in 1997. It was an astonishing and moving speech for a boy of 13, who had founded his own charity, Free the Children, at the age of 12 the year before. Fast forward to Wembley Arena this year and I attended the We Day arranged by Free the Children and attended by 12,500 young people from around the country, all of whom had made a difference to their community and contributed to a global project. In the meantime the charity has reached over 6,000 groups who have fundraised to build more than 650 schools and schoolrooms in developing countries and bring education to 55,000 children. Craig himself has not only completed a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies but at the age of only 31 has been awarded eight honorary degrees and many other prizes.

The story began in Craig's kitchen with a report of the assassination of a freed child labourer, Iqbal Masih at the same age as Craig, who was gripped by the story and the issues it raised. He got permission from his class teacher to address his fellow pupils and eleven of them volunteered to join Craig's group. They began operating out of his house and were soon giving speeches to other schools and gaining more support. The first real breakthrough was his speech to 2,000 delegates at the Ontario Federation of Labour, which was interrupted many times by loud applause. An OFL leader then announced that he was going to pledge C$5,000 and other unions followed suit to the tune of $150,000. This story was front-page news in the Toronto Star: 'Boy, 12, takes OFL by storm with child labor plea.' In the meantime he had persuaded his parents to allow him to go on a 7-week fact-finding trip to India, Pakistan, Nepal and Thailand with his 25-year old friend Alam.

This was to prove a life-changing experience as he was able to see the conditions of child labourers in these countries, meet individuals and hear their stories first-hand. Some worked in carpet factories, others in fireworks factories or on street stalls, young girls are sold into prostitution and one girl he met spent her days sorting through old syringes. Many suffer health problems brought about by their working conditions and see no prospect of escaping their situation although Craig did take part in a raid that freed over twenty children and was able to reunite them with families who thought they had lost their children forever. It makes for arresting reading, as does the inevitable travelling challenges one encounters in such countries. As it happened, I was reading the book when I myself had to rearrange my plans as a result of the French air traffic strike a few days ago and travel in a crowded overnight train – this was nothing compared with Craig and Alam having to lug their bags 7 miles in the dark to a ferry terminal only to find that they were not allowed on the boat!

During his trip Craig was able to meet Mother Teresa, who told him that the poor would teach him many things. As it happened, the Canadian Prime Minister was on an official visit to India and Pakistan at the same time as Craig and finally agreed to meet him in Islamabad after he had made headlines in New Delhi at a press conference on his work that resulted in a joint declaration on child labour by the young people of India and Canada. The papers said that the PM had agreed to meet him, which eventually happens in Islamabad. Here idealism meets practical politics with the PMs' concerns about potential trade reprisals if Canada boycotted products made with child labour. However he does agree to bring up the issue with South Asian governments and further action is taken by the minister after Craig returns from his trip. When he finally does come back to Toronto having celebrated his 13th birthday during the trip, he is met by a wall of journalists and TV cameras and spends the next week giving media interviews. The children he had met provided him with moving accounts that he was then able to relay on in his speeches and press conferences.

One of the most important outcomes of Craig's initiative was a revision of the perception that children have nothing to contribute to government policy debates. He states that children are not simply vessels to be filled but rather people with ideas, talents, opinions and dreams. His anger moved him to action and his sadness to a determination to help: 'true power lies in the hands of those who can help improve the lives of others.' He adds that people have to have faith in themselves and faith that they can change the world. Nearly twenty years later this spirit was evident at the Wembley We Day. These children believed that they could change the world and had already started to do so with their contributions. This inspiring and gripping book shows the power of vision in action – if you want to find out more, go to www.freethechildren.com and www.metowe.com.