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The first time my eyes were opened to children’s rights was when I was 15．A representative of Free the Children gave a speech at my school, sharing this story I will never forget．Craig Kielburger was l2 when he came across an article about a boy of his age who escaped from child labor and was murdered for speaking about his experiences．Craig was upset and took the article to school．He asked who would help him and with a group of friends，started Free the Children．
Craig traveled to countries where he saw child laborers and poverty firsthand．He also started giving speeches to people three times his age．He was even nominated(提名)for a Nobel Peace Prize and received the Nelson Mandela Human Rights Award．His organization has already helped over a million children．
I could not believe a kid three years younger than me had accomplished so much．His story motivated everyone who heard it to do something about the problems of the world．
That first burst of awareness faded, but a year later an organization at my school announced a meeting about social justice．Mare Kielburger, the elder brother of Free the Children’s founder, came to my school to speak and for the second time I heard the story of how Craig started the organization, but this time from a person who had been there since the beginning．Mare described his visits to underdeveloped countries and the influence on his life．telling us how he met a group of street kids in the poor areas of Bangkok．Because none could remember their birthdays．they saved money all year and had one birthday party for all of them．
Mare was an amazing speaker．He told us how we could make a difference．I was completely attracted．
Free the Children had set up campaigns that help children get education, medical care and food．When our advisor, Ms．Spotswood, asked if we would like to get involved, We responded with a unanimous yes．
Our group set to work realizing our goal of helping build a school by raising＄6, 000．It was an great challenge, but if other children had done it, so could we．We made a float for our town’s Santa Claus parade where we collected over ＄200．For our next project we asked our fellow Catholic school students to donate five dollars during Lent(大斋戒期)．
I had been volunteering as a tutor at a grade school．but quit because I hadn’t found it interesting．After Marc Kielburger spoke，I began to volunteer again．It’s tough sometimes when the children don’t cooperate．but I think about all those children who can’t get an education and realize it’s all worth it．
Every child should get an education and Free the Children has helped me understand that．Devoted to the rights of children, it has also helped me see that I can do something to help other children．I have the power to change the world and I’m going to use it．I think when the students at our school see what their money has done．they will realize they can make a difference, too．
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