Free the Children: A Young Man's Personal Crusade Against Child Labor.Free the Children: A Young Man's Personal Crusade Against Child Labor child labor, use of the young as workers in factories, farms, and mines. Child labor was first recognized as a social problem with the introduction of the factory system in late 18th-century Great Britain. . By Craig Kielburger with Kevin Major Kevin Major (born September 12, 1949) is a Canadian children's author who lives in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Major was born and raised in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. He later moved to St. John's where he attended Memorial University. . HarperCollins, 1998. A 15-year-old activist fights against child abuse. As I entered pre-kindergarten in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Iqbal Masih Iqbal Masih (Urdu: اقبال مسیح) (b. 1982 - April 16, 1995), was a Pakistani boy who was sold to a carpet industry as a child slave at the age of 4 for the equivalent of (12) USD. was delivered to a carpet factory owner in Pakistan. Iqbal's parents needed the 600 rupees they received from this transaction to pay for their eldest son's wedding. Iqbal was sold into slavery for the equivalent of $12. After gaining his freedom at age 10, Iqbal devoted himself to giving those he left behind the chance he now had at an education, love, and control of his circumstances. These are essential parts of life that I know at that age I took for granted. With freedom now in his heart, Iqbal became a confident speaker, a strong voice for social justice in his homeland and the countries around it. But on April 16, 1995, Iqbal was shot while visiting his uncle near Muridke, Pakistan. His assassins, believed to be involved with the carpet-making industry, were never identified or tried for Iqbal's murder. As Malcolm X Malcolm X, 1925–65, militant black leader in the United States, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, b. Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb. He was introduced to the Black Muslims while serving a prison term and became a Muslim minister upon his release in 1952. once said, "Societies often have killed the people who helped to change those societies." Because of Iqbal Masih and others, I no longer take my freedom for granted. The thing I thank God for most is my freedom, and the thing I ask for most often is for God to protect all those who do not have it. Craig Kielburger, then a 13-year-old living in Thornhill, Ontario Thornhill (2006 population 106,394) is an upscale community in Ontario, Canada, directly north of Toronto. It is considered the most affluent of Toronto suburbs. It straddles two municipalities, the city of Vaughan having the portion west of Yonge Street and the town of Markham , Canada, read about Iqbal's murder in The Toronto Star The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within Ontario. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., a division of Star Media Group, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. . I remember reading a similar story that month in a magazine. Iqbal's story inspired Kielburger in 1995 to found Free the Children, an organization devoted to ending child labor in South Asia. His book, Free the Children: A Young Man's Personal Crusade Against Child Labor, is about Kielburger's seven-week trip to South Asia, visiting the slums, sweatshops, and back alleys of Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Nepal, and Pakistan to see firsthand the ways in which children are exploited. CRAIG, IQBAL, AND I were born in the same year, though in unimaginably different situations: Craig in a Canadian suburb, I in the heart of the U.S. capital, and Iqbal in a poor village in Pakistan. But that is simply proof that you don't have to have the same start to reach the same destination. Despite growing up in what would be considered a sheltered environment sheltered environment An environment that provides protection and custodial care to those who cannot, for various reasons, fend for themselves Examples Nursing homes, institutions for mentally challenged, 'safe houses' for abused ♀, halfway houses for , Craig has done an immense amount to help children in South Asia. Anyone can, and everyone should, open their eyes to the world they can't see, and not just the world around them. I may have no idea how to pronounce Iqbal's name, but I felt the deepest sympathy for him when I first learned of his death in 1995, and again as I read Kielburger's book. The book's shining stars are the chapters titled "Bangkok" and "Varanasi." "Bangkok" describes the wonders of Bangkok, Thailand, from its ornate Buddhist temples to its child prostitution district. Kielburger's words form a clear picture of an area where children as young as 7 or 8 are forced to sell their bodies. "Varanasi" tells the story of Kielburger's trip to Varanasi, India, where he helped plan a raid on a carpet factory to free the young laborers and accompanied them on the wonderful trip back to their families. The descriptions of each child's return home after years of devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. labor could definitely change someone's perspective on the issue of child labor. Free the Children is neither pretentious nor self-glorifying. Kielburger is not a novelist, but there is no reason he should be expected to produce a deeply moving, dramatic bestseller. He does a good job of telling readers why he became and stayed involved in the child labor issue. And he makes a very good point: Child labor in South Asia must be abolished, and Westerners can't turn their heads anymore. CELESTE Celeste is a woman's first name. Celeste may also refer to: in Music
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