Volunteering to free the children

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

Snap. That is the sound of another child in a developing country dying from poverty or poverty-related disease, as interpreted by the snapping fingers of Free the Children's executive director Marc Kielburger, echoing in the silent hall of Kuper Academy's gym as around 420 students at the private school listened with rapt attention last Thursday.

"These are kids who have hopes and dreams and aspirations just like you guys," he said, explaining that 30,000 will die today, or one every two seconds. It was the only instance during an hour-long motivational speech when his booming, enthusiastic voice noticeably lowered just a bit.

Founded by Kielburger's younger brother Craig when the latter was 12 years old, Free the Children is an N.G.O. (non-governmental organization) that sets itself apart from others by having children help children. Volunteers for the program help build schools, hospitals or other kinds of infrastructure during a three-week session in countries ranging from Kenya to Mexico, and the positive aspect of volunteering is what Kielburger tried to get across during his talk.

Kielburger frequently touched upon his own personal experiences, from starting off by helping AIDS victims in the slums of Bangkok, Thailand, to meeting an eight-year-old girl in India whose job it was to gather discarded needles to reuse plastics for other purposes. "Do you cut yourself?" Kielburger recalled asking her, only to be shown her open palms with multitudes of tiny pinpricks, which he had originally assumed were freckles.

He asked her if she knew about the risk of contracting AIDS. "What is AIDS?" the girl retorted, before adding she could not speak to him much longer because her "master" may beat her. Despite frequent subsequent trips to India and attempts to find her, Kielburger said he had never seen her again.

"It affected me personally, to see that a child could go through that," said Olivia Taddea, 16, a Kuper Academy student who attended the speech.

"Before hearing this, I didn't think it was even possible," said Joseph Miller, 16, another student who listened to Kielburger.

"We have a generation of young people who aren't nearly as active a generation as in the past," Kielburger said to a smaller group of journalism students after the speech. "It's always been young people who've stood up for these issues, and if young people don't stand up for these issues, it's not going to be my parents or your parents."

However, his words at Kuper were enough to awaken the desire to volunteer among at least some listeners.

"I called my mom after the speech and I told her I was going to go help save the world," Taddea said with a laugh, expressing a wish to go to Kenya with the Free the Children network.

Miller praised Kielburger's energetic presence as a speaker, adding he would like to go to China.

As for parents who think a trip to a developing country is an invitation to disease, pickpockets, and other assorted dangers, Kielburger assured that Free the Children provides as safe a haven as possible. All trips take place with supervisors and food and water from home. Within the countries, the children are transported by buses driven by the networks' employees, etc.

Political or governmental opposition is not a problem, since the network chooses countries where they know there will be cooperation.

This was the fourth in a series of annual speeches at Kuper Academy in Kirkland. Previous guests have included Canadian senator and former U.N. General Roméo Dallaire, David Frum, a former speech writer for U.S. President George W. Bush, and ethicist Margaret Somerville.

Chronicle photo

Marc Kielburger discusses child poverty in developing countries with students at Kuper Academy in Kirkland.