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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 28, 2016 | 18 Twelve students at 12 years old began to change the world continued from p.15 freeing child slaves around the world, but now focuses on issues in Canada, too. He noted the mission has two parts, with one centred on helping Canadian youths take action on any issue they care about. "Over the years, our mission has grown, not only to be around the world, but we came back home to Canada to inspire and engage the next generation through WE Days and through all of our school programs to find their cause to take action," said Kielburger. When FTC was founded as a group of 12-year-olds, "we never imagined it would grow this big," Kielburger said. "We never thought it would survive to high school. Now, it's touched 45 countries around the world. Never could have imagined that." The charity co-founder noted there are now 10,000 schools, in North America and the United Kingdom, that run clubs with Free the Children. With more students getting involved every year, momentum for the WE movement is constantly surging, Kielburger said. "It keeps building greater and greater energy and the whole new generation brings a whole new set of momentum, a whole new set of passion," said Kielburger. The vision for the collective WE groups in Canada is for every youth to find a cause and make a difference, Kielburger said, which includes a "big focus" on helping new citizens, Aboriginals and those living in rural areas get involved. "We want to provide the support across Canada, but especially focus on those three groups," he said. "It's tougher (for them) to find the support to lead a service program, if you're a young person." A nationally-syndicated columnist and a New York Times bestselling author with 12 published books, Kielburger has received the Order of Canada, the Nelson Mandela Freedom Medal and the World Children's Prize for his charitable work. "There is a need to shift the world to think about how our daily choices not only impact me, my family or my community, but how they impact we, as in the world, our environment and the lives of so many others," said Kielburger. During his presentation, Kielburger recalled the origin story of FTC. While reading a newspaper in Grade 7, he came across an article on Iqbal Masih, a 12-year-old former child slave in Pakistan, who was murdered because he spoke up for human rights. "It made me so angry. I kept staring at the story over and over again," Kielburger told the students. He convinced a group of his classmates they could jointly make an impact, eventually leading to the formation of Free the Children. "Eleven hands went up in my class, 12 students at 12 years old. We were called the group of 12 troubles," said Kielburger. "We had this dream to build a school." They faced opposition when launching the initiative, Kielburger said, and wanted to build 10 schools when they reached Grade 9. After obtaining that goal, they aspired to keep fundraising to build even more ­ 100, 200, 300, etc. "We started a mere 45-minute drive from here. We were passionate as heck. The world needs us now to take action," said Kielburger. In its 11th year, the ACMUN helps students develop and improve their public speaking, debating and writing skills, and discover themselves and how they can engage in world affairs. Janet Kurusanather, English teacher and ACMUN faculty advisor, noted 420 students attended the conference, which took three months to organize and featured 19 committees tackling issues such as foreign policy and international relations. "They're so into it and very involved. It's about fostering the dialogue and having that chance to communicate and network with their peers in the GTA. It's very important to them," said Kurusanather. DINE IN ONLY Valid only at 1011 Upper Middle Rd, Oakville Expires: June 1st, 2016 O Thursdays 1:00 ­ 6:30 pm P E Saturdays 10:30 am ­ 1:30 pm N Sundays 10:00 am ­ 12:00 pm Homemade Ukrainian Food terrace take-away all prepared and easy to warm up 905.337.1400 ext. 116 orders@terracetakeaway.ca cafe@sjucc.ca www.terracetakeaway.ca St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church 300 River Oaks Blvd. East (at Trafalgar) Oakville ON