Kailiash Satyarthi

Introduction
Imagine you are 12 years old standing outside the school gates talking and laughing with
your friends, but then the school bell rings, and they all go inside but not you, because instead
of going to school you are shining shoes outside the school gate working. This is what
Kailash Satyarthi had to experience. From a young age Kailash saw this happening at his
school in India. When he asked his teachers, they simply scolded him and told him to be
quiet, however, when he asked his headmaster the headmaster said, “it is completely normal
for the children of the poor to work in order to survive.” Something happened to Kailash
when the headmaster said this it simply twitched a nerve in him and gave him something to
work on; to fix.
Growing up, I thought that it was normal for everyone to go to school until 16 and then, they
can decide whether or not they want to carry on with higher education. Only upon reading
Kailash’s story have I realised what injustice there is in the world and how something such as
education is not a human right in some places. Not only did Kailash win a Nobel Peace Prize
in 2014 but he is in a beacon of hope to many young children around the world.
Kailash Satyarthi fights against child labour and exploitation. He has publicly said many
times that his mission is to make sure that every child is a free child.
Throughout this speech, I will be covering two areas:
1) Kailash’s Philanthropy: In 1980 he founded the organization ‘Bachpan Bachao
Andolan’ which translates to ‘Save Childhood Movement’
2) Kailash’s activism: For the past 30 years Kailash has been working to free children
from oppression and give all children the right to an education.
I would now like to begin to give an insight to how Kailash began working as a social
reformer.

Body
Main Point 1: Kailash’s Philanthropy: In the 1980s Kailash founded the non-profit
organization ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement). What he did with the
BBA is truly astonishing. In the beginning Kailash and other members went to a brick and
carpet factory and liberated the children there who had been forced into work by their
parents. Satyarthi and other members were often beaten physically for doing this and several
members of his organization were even assassinated as punishment. (Pallardy)
Within 10 years of work the BBA claimed to have freed thousands of children across India
and had established several ashrams which is a spiritual hermitage. These ashrams are where
children reacclimated before they would start their newfound education.
Several years later Satyarthi founded ‘Bal Mitra Gram’ (BMG). This was a program for child
friendly villages in which villages would ban child labour and all children within that village
were enrolled in school. This program launched in 2011 it is now estimated that around 350
villages have adopted this program.
Now through his hard effort and work, he has protected the rights of thousands of children
across the world. As of right now, due to him he has freed over “83,000 children from
Kailiash Satyarthi

exploitation and developed a successful model for their education, rehabilitation and
reintegration into mainstream society.” As quoted on the Nobel Prize Website
(Nobelprize.org)
I have now talked about Kailash Satyarthi’s work with his organization, I am now going to
move on to his activism.
Main Point 2: Kailash’s activism: As an activist his has been at the heart of ‘Global March
Against Child Labour’ this is the largest civil society network for the exploited children. This
network connects children’s right organisations, teachers’ unions and trade unions. As stated
on the Nobel Prize Website (Nobelprize.org). The global march movement started in 1998
and it started with an 80,000 km march across 103 countries. Citizens from over 140 different
countries took place in the march. The impact that this march had was cataclysmic causing
177 of 186 member countries of the International Labour Organisation have now ratified a
convention against child labour. (Pareek, 2016)
Through being an activist, he found in 1994 an initiative called “Rugmark” commonly know
as GoodWeave International. The objective of this initiative is to create a carpet industry that
does not use or support child labour. Additionally, they only sell rugs that have been certified
child- labour free.
I would like to conclude this speech by saying that when you are walking around campus
think how different your life would be without education and what your life would be like if
all you know is working in sweatshops barely making enough to survive, because for some
children that is their reality and due to heroes like Kailash Satyarthi he his doing he best to
minimise this.

Conclusion
I have provided information and examples of some of the great work that Kailash Satyarthi
has done. For these reasons I have stated I believe that the least I could do in praise him and
show my admiration.
I hope that now through listening you understand what Kailash Satyarthi has done for
children all over the world and how he has freed so many and given them a right to an
education as he believes it is a basic right. He lives his life with one saying, “A lot of work
still remains but I will see the end of child labour in my lifetime.” This just proves how
dedicated he is to ending child labour and that he will not stop.
When you leave this classroom and our walking through our beautiful campus, I want to
leave you with a quote from Kailash Satyarthi, “Childhood means simplicity. Look at the
world with the child’s eye- it is very beautiful.”
Kailiash Satyarthi

References
The Nobel Peace Prize 2014, (Accessed 22nd April 2020). Nobelprize.org. Retrieved from:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/satyarthi/biographical/

Pallardy, R (Accessed 22nd April 2020). Britannica.com. Retrieved from:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kailash-Satyarthi
Pareek, S (Accessed 23rd April 2020). Thebetterindia.com. Retrieved from:
https://www.thebetterindia.com/42392/5-things-need-know-nobel-prize-winner-kailash-satyarthi/