At the age of four, Masih, a young Pakistani boy, was sold into slavery. He escaped at age nine only to be shot by his former employers a few months later. Craig Keilburger, age nine, shared Masih’s story with his seventh-grade class. When he asked his classmates for help, eleven kids raised their hands. Free the Children was established.
Free the Children is now a worldwide organization of children helping children through education. Its main goal is to “Free children from poverty and exploitation and free young people from the notion that they are powerless to affect positive change in the world.” Free the Children intends to accomplish just this with a simple equation: education + health care + water + alternative income = sustainable development.
Katie Swindell ’14 and Emma DeCamp ’13 started a Free the Children club at Deerfield. It is not your average charity-based club, though. “We are supporting not only a community overseas, but we also recognize the need in Franklin County,” Swindell said.
Keeping in mind how fortunate and privileged students are to attend Deerfield, Swindell and DeCamp hope to provide opportunities for students to help those less fortunate.
For additional information on how to become involved, contact kswindell@deerfield.edu or edecamp@deerfield.edu.