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by Craig
Keilburger
Craig Keilburger
was 12 years old in April 1995 when he read about the death of a 12-year-old boy
from Pakistan named Iqbal Masih. In this open letter, Craig introduces Free the Children
and describes how you can help end child labor.
Background
Iqbal Masih was sold into slavery as a bonded laborer for $16.00 at the age of four,
and shackled to a carpet loom to make carpets. He escaped when he was 10 years old;
when he was 12 years old he was murdered.
Shocked at the differences in their lives, Craig Keilburger researched the issue
of child labor and organized his friends and classmates to form a children's organization
called "Free The Children." Free The Children established four main goals:
- Creating greater awareness of
child labor and the exploitation of children through educational campaigns.
- Convincing world leaders that
the education and protection of children are priority concerns.
- Raising funds for abused and
exploited children.
- Collaborating with youth around
the world to help bring about change.
Free the Children has since grown into an influential international children's movement
in which young people all over the world speak at schools and conferences, to educators,
union groups, and government bodies on behalf of youth. Craig himself has travelled
all over the world, most recently to Brazil, where he organized mass media coverage
of the plight of exploited children.
What follows is Craig's action list detailing how you can help stop child labor and
the exploitation of workers in Third World countries.
Educate Yourself
Read articles in the newspapers. Write to Human Rights' Organizations. Use the Internet.
Search your libraries. Listen to media reports. Contact UNICEF, the International
Labor Organization, Anti-Slavery International, labor groups and other children's
rights groups for information and help. Try to discover more about child labor and
the exploitation of workers not only in Third World countries but in your own country.
Share information about your country with us.
Create Greater Awareness
Become a spokesperson for children's rights at your school, office, or place of work.
Students can do projects, set up seminars and displays, and write reports on children's
rights issues. Give speeches to the students in your class, to other schools, to
community groups and organizations. Share information and articles you have discovered
on consumer responsibility and children's rights with friends and coworkers. Write
a play on child labor and present it to students and to adults. Organize a puppet
theater on child labor and workers rights. Write a song, a poem, a story. Set up
a bulletin board in your school or place of work on children's issues; make a collage,
paint a picture, do an art display. Use your creativity and imagination. Adults can
help support youth in their schools, community, and religious centers in their effort
to help their peers around the world.
Establish Contacts and Allies
Gather together friends and supporters who will help. Young people should seek out
an adult, a parent, teacher, or university student who will help them with research
and organization skills. Seek the help and support of other friends. Form a Free
the Children chapter and encourage others to do likewise. Approach other organizations,
unions, religious groups, and organizations for assistance in forming your group.
Participate in Campaigns Organized by Human Rights Groups
Rugmark Campaign
Many organizations, including the International Labor Organization and UNICEF, have
documented how hundreds of thousands of children in Asia are sold into slavery to
produce hand knotted rugs for export into North America and Western countries. Children
as young as six years old work 12-16 hours a day, seven days a week; many suffer
from lung and eye diseases and kidney illnesses from working in cramped conditions
for long hours. Children who don't make their quota, who make mistakes, or who try
to escape are frequently beaten.
"Rugmark" is a labeling system certifying that illegal child labor was
not used in the manufacturing of handmade rugs. The Rugmark label is currently in
use in Germany, the United States, and Canada.
Free the Children Letter Writing Campaign
- Write to government leaders in
your country.
Ask them to take a stand on the issue of child labor and workers' rights in developing
countries. We are not advocating stopping trade from Third World countries that have
child labor-this would make things more difficult for the children. However, companies
importing goods must ensure that the goods are not made by children in slave labor
or under exploitative conditions.
- Write to government leaders of
countries suspected of using child labor.
Our Web site (www.freethechildren.org) lists world leaders in Third World
countries to whom you can write expressing your concerns about exploitative child
labor. We want education and children's protection to be made a priority, both in
aid money to Third World countries and in government budgets. According to a UNICEF
study, most countries that use exploitative child labor spend, on average, 30 times
more on military expenses than on primary education. Eliminating child labor is a
question of political will.
- Write to multinational corporations.
Organize a letter writing campaign to all companies and stores using cheap labor
in Third World countries to produce their products. If you are not sure which companies
these are, then write to all of the companies in your area to create greater awareness.
Ask companies to provide basic workers' rights. We are challenging companies around
the world to pay their workers a just wage and provide safe working conditions so
that children do not have to work to supplement their parents' income.
Ask companies to create alternatives for exploited children.
It is not enough to remove children from factories; alternatives must be found for
children and their families to provide food, shelter, and education. Rich multinational
corporations must be challenged to put a percentage of their profits back into the
countries where they are getting cheap labor, ensure the protection and education
of children, and work with human rights groups and governments for the welfare of
children. (In India it costs only $600.00 U.S. a year to pay the salary of a teacher.)
Poverty is no excuse for exploitation. Poverty is no excuse for child abuse.
Fundraising
Be it walk-a-thon, rock-a-thon, ride-a-thon, skate-a-thon, dances, car washes, garage
sales, fairs, bake sales, raffles, "Rent-a-Kid" for a day, or "Match
the Weight of a Teacher" in loose change, tell us your ideas!
Friendship School
You can help children go to school and break the cycle of poverty and abusive child
labor. Education is the key. Your school can become a "Friendship School"
by doing any of the following:
- Put together school and health
kits, as noted on our Web site.
- Raise money to pay for the salary
of a teacher in the Third World.
- Participate in a fundraising
campaign to build a school for poor children.
- Write letters and/or draw pictures
to school children.
Free the Children Group
If you are interested in starting a Free the Children youth group, please
let us know! Our Free the Children office receives calls from all over the
world, including Australia, Europe, South America, and Hong Kong, from
people who want to become involved and help children.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Free the Children International
16 Thornbank Rd.
Thornhill, Ontario
L4J 2A2
Canada
Free the Children USA
12 East 48th Street
New York, NY
USA 10017
Phone: 905-881-0863
Fax: 905-881-1849
Web: www.freethechildren.org
Email: freechild@clo.com
Craig Keilburger, founder of Free the Children, is a 16-year-old student from Toronto,
Canada. His upcoming book, Free the Children (Harper Collins), is due out in January,
1999.
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