Free The Children is an international charity and youth movement founded in 1995 by
children's rightsChildren's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
advocate
Craig KielburgerCraig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,...
. The organization is largely youth-funded, based on the concept of "children helping children." It specializes in sustainable development in countries of Kenya, Ecuador, India, Nicaragua, Arizona-Mexico, and China, empowering youth in developed countries to become socially engaged.
History
Free The Children was founded in 1995 by
Craig KielburgerCraig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,...
when he was 12 years old. Kielburger was reading through the
Toronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
newspaper before school one day when he came across an article about the murder of 12-year-old Pakistani factory worker
Iqbal MasihIqbal Masih , was a young Pakistan Islamic boy who was forced into bonded labour in a carpet factory at the age of four, became an international figurehead for the Bonded Labour Liberation Front at the age of 10 after he escape from servitude, and was assassinated at the age of 13.-Early life and...
who had spoken out against child labour.
Soon after, Kielburger established Free The Children with a group of his 12-year-old classmates. The organization was formed to expose child labour to North Americans and encourage other children to get involved in the issue. In an attempt to learn more about child labour, he then travelled to South Asia to meet child labourers and hear their stories first-hand. It was on that trip in 1995 that Kielburger captured the attention of the media (in Canada and, to a lesser extent, the United States) when he secured an impromptu meeting with then Prime Minister
Jean ChrétienJoseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
who was visiting Southeast Asia for a trade delegation. Kielburger attempted to persuade Chrétien to bring the subject of international child labour onto the Canadian Government's radar.
After returning home to Canada, Kielburger and his friends at Free The Children began taking on fundraisers and petitions in order to help fight child labour. Along with his older brother Marc, Kielburger grew the organization into a registered charity.
In 1999, at the age of 16, Craig Kielburger authored
Free the Children, a book detailing his journey to South Asia four years earlier and the founding of his charity. The book was re-released in 2007 with Me to We Books.
In the years since its founding, Free The Children has focused its efforts less on eradicating child labour, and more on eradicating the barriers to children's education in the developing world. According to the organization's website, their goals are to
"Free children from poverty and exploitation and free young people from the notion that they are powerless to affect positive change in the world." Today, they have built more than 650 schools and school rooms in developing regions worldwide. Free The Children has established offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, London, England and Palo Alto, California) ).
Development work
Free The Children currently implements its Adopt a Village development model in rural communities in seven countries: China, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Sierra Leone, India, Haiti and Ecuador. Adopt a Village is made up of five components: education, health care, alternative income, and clean water and sanitation. Among other projects, Adopt a Village builds schools and water wells, and provides medical treatment and alternative income sources to the developing regions. These projects are designed to address the root causes of poverty and remove the barriers to children’s education in the developing world.
In 2008, Free The Children celebrated the construction of its 500th school. In 2010, the organization updated its website and to show that it has now built 650 schools and school rooms which educate 55,000 children a day.
Youth Empowerment Work
Free The Children also partners with schools and families in developed countries “to educate, engage and empower young people as agents of change.” It does so through a team of Youth Programming Coordinators providing mentor ship and resources to school and community youth groups; through the production of Weekly Curriculum Resources for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms; and by providing training to educators on engaging students in social justice. Free the Children has also teamed up with Me to We, their partner organization, to offer international volunteer trips for youth. Through school or youth groups they can travel overseas to build water wells and schools, for which they have fund-raised. Participants build leadership skills and learn about global development and social issues. These experiences can take place in rural communities of Arizona-Mexico, Kenya, Ecuador, China and India. Youth "return with new perspectives and more energy than ever before to get their family and friends involved in raising awareness and funds for overseas development projects through Free The Children."
Local initiatives include: motivational speaking tours and workshops on topics such as volunteerism, active lifestyles and healthy eating and bullying; summer leadership camps; the GO Local program, which works with underserved middle and high schools to engage students in local issues; the Local Spotlight on Aboriginal education in partnership with the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative; and the We Schools in Action program, launched annually by We Day.
We Day
Since 2007, thousands of Canadian students have attended We Day, Free The Children's annual awareness event featuring speeches and performances from global leaders, social activists and cultural figures. Speakers introduce students to a broad range of issues, such as the environment (Former Vice President and Nobel Laureate
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
and UN Messenger of Peace Dr. Jane Goodall), peace building (the
Dalai LamaThe Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
, Nobel Laureate Betty Williams and Palestinian medical doctor, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish), and social justice (National Chief Shawn Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations and Nobel Laureate Dr. Elie Weisel). Performers have included K’naan,
Sarah McLachlanSarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
,
Jason MrazJason Thomas Mraz , also known as Mr. AZ and Mr. Raz, is an American singer-songwriter. Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy ", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, "Mr. A-Z", in 2005, that Mraz achieved...
,
Justin BieberJustin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
, The Jonas Brothers,
Colbie CaillatColbie Marie Caillat is an American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hit singles "Bubbly", "Realize", and "The Little Things". In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, "Lucky", which won a Grammy. Caillat released her...
,
HedleyHedley is a Canadian pop rock band comprising lead singer Jacob Hoggard, Tommy Mac on bass, Dave Rosin on lead guitar and Chris Crippin on drums. The current band retains the original name of Hoggard's pre-Canadian Idol group, although the membership has changed. The band originated in Abbotsford,...
and The Barenaked Ladies.
The event is funded by socially minded corporate partners and has no admission fee. Each school group who attends must make a commitment to undertaking one domestic and one international service action over the school year.
Funding
Free The Children’s funding comes largely from young people. In classrooms and youth groups across North America, young people fundraise for Adopt a Village with independent fundraising campaigns or Free The Children’s organized campaigns. A portion of Free The Children’s funding also comes from independent adult supporters, grants and corporate groups. A final portion of the organization’s funding comes from the social enterprise Me to We, which donates 50 percent of its net profits to Free The Children from the sales of socially conscious products and services. The Me to We website lists its cash and in-kind contributions to Free The Children at over one million dollars annually.
Partners and Ambassadors
- Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
and the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative
- Actress Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
- Singer Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
- eTalk hosts Tanya Kim and Ben Mulroney
- Media personality Jesse Giddings
- Media personality Jessi Cruikshank
- Musician Jacob Hoggard of Hedley, Shawn Desman, The Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
, Down With WebsterDown with Webster, or DWW, is a 7-man Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto, Ontario who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009. During live shows the band occasionally uses a 3-piece horn section....
- Actors Charlotte Arnold, Raymond Ablack, Munro Chambers, and Sam Earle of Degrassi
- Holly Branson
External links