CRAIG K

IELB

URGER

CA

NA

DI A

N A

CT

I VI S

T F

OR

RI G

HT

S O

F CH

I LD

RE

N

CRAIG KIELBURGER

PERSONAL HISTORY

• Full Name: Craig Kielburger

• Born: October, 17, 1982 in Thornhill, Ontario

• Family: Fred (father), Theresa (Mother), and Marc (Older Brother)

• Co-Founder of Free the Children and Me-To-We along with his brother Marc

WHAT STARTED THIS PERSON OH HIS ROAD TO SUCCESS?At age twelve, Craig saw the news headline,

“Battled Child Labor, Boy, 12, Murdered” in his local newspaper. This was unacceptable and really angered Craig. Iqbal Maasi , a 12 year old boy was finally free of child labor. He started to speak up about this issue, sharing his troubled and dreadful experiences in a carpet factory. One day one his way to visit his cousins he was shot. Unfortunately Iqbal died, but as many people say, “a thousand new Iqbals were born.”

WHY IS THIS PERSON NOTABLE?Being just twelve years old and not being afraid to

stand up for what you believe in is truly amazing. One huge notable thing done buy Craig was co-founding Free the Children. By doing this he has created a so many education opportunities for many children around the world. 54 million children don’t have education. Free the Children has helped 55,000 children so far with the help of youth by building schools and school rooms. There are so many fundraisers and awareness campaigns Free the Children has created such as We Scare Hunger, We Create Change, ABC Rafiki Friendship Chains, and the Vow of Silence.

WHY IS THIS PERSON NOTABLE? (CONTINUED)Its not just schools that’s Free the Children

build. They also build water wells to help give communities clean water, and donate thousands of medical supplies to ensure health problems aren’t a huge issue and to make children able to celebrate their 5th birthday. Agriculture is also an issue Free the Children deal with. Fresh fruits and vegetables that families are able to grow themselves take away the stress of not having enough food and not being able to feed their children.

WILL CRAIG BE REMEMBERED IN 100 YEARS?

Craig Kielburger will be remembered 100 years from now as a person who started a movement that will touch the whole world, make our world full of children who all have the education they deserve, where poverty is not a huge issue and where child labor is no more. Craig started his movement with just 11 other students in his Grade 7 class and now has been joined by over 1.7 million youth around the world wanting to make a change.

WHO WERE/ARE CRAIG’S MOST INFLUENTIAL MENTORS?“Growing up Craig looked up to his brother,

Mark, who he now works with in both Free The Children and Me to We projects.. Needless to say, Iqbal Maasi, the young boy from Afghanistan who fought for children’s right and was killed at the age of 12 stands as Craig’s role model who ignited passion to take action. He has also mentioned his mother Theresa to be a driving force of strength and belief for him.”

- Melanie Matining

Youth and Educational Programming

Free the Children

WHY I CHOSE CRAIG FOR MY PROJECT:

I chose Craig Kielburger because I want more people to know that it’s not a difficult task to help people. He has inspired me at We Day for the past three years and I want people to be inspired too. My goal is to raise $1000 to contribute to help build a school in a country where there is no education. I know to build a school in places like Ecuador and India it costs around 10,000 but by contributing $1,000 it really helps. To do this I am going to sell Pura Vida bracelets and donate all profits to Free the Children.

HOW WILL THIS PROJECT INFLUENCE ME?This project has really helped me realizes how

much small things can make a huge difference. It will truly make me think twice before I throw out a pair of old soccer cleats or a couple batteries. I have learned so much about Craig’s background and Free the Children. I couldn’t believe that Free the Children has already built over 650 schools and schoolrooms giving 55,000 children an education. They are planning to build 200 more schools this year!

PLACES FREE THE CHILDREN HAVE BUILT SCHOOLS

HAITI

GHANA

INDIA

NICARAGUA

SIERRA LEONE

RURAL CHINA

KENYA

ECUADOR

EMINENT 2013: CRAIG KIELBURGER

BY: AMIRA BRAR