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CHILDREN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

An initiative of Peter de Ruiter

Edited by Floris van Straaten and Els Kloek

Written by: Aletta André, David Barnouw, Pauline Bax, Joeri Boom, Floor Boon, Nicole Bosch, Fréderike Geerdink, Elles van Gelder, Diederik van Hoogstraten, Els Kloek, Frank Kuin, Peter de Ruiter, Judith Spiegel, Judith Stalpers, Floris van Straaten en Jeltje Zijlstra.

Translated by: Pauline Bax, Monique van Brandenburg, Christine Delaney, Eugène van Dijk, Carri Dix (editor-in-chief), Diederik van Hoogstraten, Frank Kuin, Kimberley Steeneken, Vreni van Unen, Adine Versluis, Jim Wake and Ans Wegter.

PixelPerfect Publications | The Hague

Dit ebook is gelicenseerd aan Alexander van Meerten, alexander@icontact.nl op 24-04-2018

A word from the author

Children Who Changed the World

What do Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank have in common? Both opened the eyes of the world to the injustice done to them as children. Malala deliberately set out to fight for her right to education. While Anne Frank unwittingly became a symbol of the effect of war on the lives of children. Children Who Changed the World, tells the stories of more than twenty children who have opened the world’s eyes to serious problems in society, and who have contributed to the solution. As children, they have changed our world for the better.

Children like Iqbal Masih, Andrew Adansi, Ishmael Beah, Urmila Chaudhary and Nujood Ali spoke out against child labour, discrimination, child marriage, poverty, exclusion from education, war, disease and hunger. They were listened to, despite - or perhaps because of - their young age. Kim Phuc, Ruby Bridges, Nkosi Johnson and Helen Keller did not accept their fate, they challenged it. Their perseverance is an inspiration to other children, as well as to adults.

Who are these children?

What have they accomplished, what inspired them? What has the effect of their actions been, and what remains to be done? In Children who changed the world, we hear from the children themselves, many of them now adults.

Their stories demonstrate that change is possible and it is worthwhile standing up against injustice – whether you are a child or an adult. That is the lesson they have taught us.

This book

Children Who Changed the World was originally published in print in the Netherlands, in Dutch, on 20 November 2014, the 25th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. A fine group of dedicated translators made this English ebook, which will be distributed for free around the world, possible.

If you are interested in the Dutch hard copy, click to www.kinderenveranderen.nl. The worldwide printing rights of this book are for sale. See also the colophon.

On Apple devices: tap twice on a photo to see it full screen.

Dit ebook is gelicenseerd aan Alexander van Meerten, alexander@icontact.nl op 24-04-2018

Preface

A world for children

Shortly before this book was ready to be published, the book about the life of 19-year-old Michaela DePrince, was published in Holland titled They called me Devil’s Child. The British version is available under the title Hope in a Ballet Shoe. Very descriptive titles referring to her past, a past which mirrors the experiences of many of the other children featured in Children Who Changed the World. A war orphan from Sierra Leone, Michaela is now a world renowned ballerina, and is currently dancing for the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.

Michaela grew up during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Both her mother and father died during the war and she ended up in an orphanage. People saw her as a child of the devil because of her skin condition and treated her despicably. Her teacher and only confidant, was murdered in front of her eyes by soldiers: child soldiers. She narrowly escaped sexual abuse.

But Michaela’s luck changed. She was adopted by an American family, where she could follow her dream - ballet. She was enchanted by the image of a ballerina from the time she found a magazine blown against the orphanage gate with a beautiful ballerina retiré sur pointe on the cover. That was still in Sierra Leone. In the United States, Michaela, thanks to hard work and perseverance, won prize after prize for her dancing. She was however subjected to a new obstacle - discrimination, due to her skin colour.

From the frying pan into the fire? Many children dream of her life. Unfortunately millions of children do not have a choice. They are not given the opportunities they deserve, because they can’t escape the war. They want to go to school to learn and develop themselves, but they are forced to work to survive. They want to be brought up by loving parents, who have the time and money to send them to school. They want to be healthy and to stay healthy, not buckling under a physical disability. They want to play with friends and not be bullied.

In 2014 we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A moment to be proud of, but this is no reason to rest on our laurels. The stories in this book illustrate that the lives of children will not improve without someone making a stand and working to change the circumstances. There are children who are working at changing the world. But we can’t leave it to them to do all the work. It is after all the responsibility of the adults to create A World for Children.

Peter de Ruiter

October 2014

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Introduction

According to John Locke (1632-1704), the founder of pedagogy, children are a blank slate. They start life uninhibited. At first they are vulnerable and helpless, but they are soon able to explore and discover the world. This process of growing up is usually guided and controlled by adults. This is what we call 'upbringing'. People learn not only from experience, they learn by example, very specifically by the example their parents set for them.

What is the right way to raise a child? That is a question philosophers and parents have been asking for as long as there have been children. Should a child be restrained or encouraged? Should a child be spoiled or should you break a child’s spirit? Should a child blindly follow the example of adults or explore the world for themselves?  And what is more important? Nature or nurture, genes or upbringing? Thousands of books have been written on this subject. What is often forgotten in this debate, is the fact that adults too can learn from children and their innocent enthusiasm and boundless energy.

The Netherlands 2014

This book is about the power of childlike spontaneity. Children are inquisitive and use their imagination. They recognise illogical and at times unjust elements that have crept into our language, into our society and our way of thinking. Everything they see is met with a simple question: 'Why?' This helps them, slowly but surely, to learn about the world around them. They have the ability to be genuinely surprised: huh, why is it like that? Can it be done differently?

The following chapters cover a range of interesting examples, both from the present and the past. Examples of children who refused to accept their miserable fate and who campaigned courageously, successfully or unsuccessfully, to improve their own lives and that of their peers. Examples of children who were truly astonished by the cruel habits ingrained into mankind that harm others and the world. Who then thought: this must change! Children who did not succumb but who stood up for themselves and pushed out the boundaries. Of children who forgot to be afraid because of their deep indignation. Children rarely have a say, simply because they are children. Fortunately they are often very inventive and creative in coming up with unconventional solutions.

Malala and the Taliban

Malala Yousafzai is one of those children who could not care less about conventional views of the role of girls in her society. The young Pakistani girl dared to openly criticize the Taliban, because she was outraged at their stance against education for girls and were forcibly closing schools where she lived. When she was fifteen Malala was shot in the head in an assassination attempt by fundamentalists. Lucky to be alive she lives in exile in Birmingham, UK, where she continues to relentlessly campaign for girls' education, when she is not busy studying.

Another inspiring story of someone in a similar situation to Malala, is the story of Iqbal Masih. A young boy who has almost been forgotten. At the age of four he worked for fourteen hours a day in a carpet factory. Six years later, after he refused to return to work, he actively campaigned to free other children. He was shot in 1995, murdered at just twelve years old. Although it has never been proven, it is suspected that the carpet mafia had something to do with it.

Circumstances are not only what drives these extraordinary children, children who have had a privileged childhood, have also dedicated themselves to others. An example of this is Felix Finkbeiner from Germany. At the age of nine in 2007, he launched the idea to plant more than a million trees worldwide to help save the environment. The organisation Plant for the Planet was born. Four years later his target had already been achieved.

There are also other children who did not intentionally try to make a difference. Children who became a symbol of hope in a cruel world through their extraordinary circumstances. The young Vietnamese girl Kim Phúc became a vivid symbol of the suffering war inflicts on children. She was photographed naked and crying, running from an American napalm bombing in Vietnam. Anne Frank also fits into this category of children who changed the world, although she was unaware of it at the time. She has shaken up and inspired millions of people, both adults and children, with the diary she kept while hiding in the Secret Annex in Amsterdam before she died in a German concentration camp.

Deaf and Blind

Further back in history, Helen Keller made a difference too. At a very early age she was left both deaf and blind after an illness. She ran the risk of being trapped in her isolation, of being considered 'an idiot'. With a bit of luck, but mostly because of her phenomenal perseverance, she managed to overcome her isolation. She learned to read and write, learned foreign languages and even went to university. Becoming one of the most famous women in the history of the USA and an example that inspires people to overcome their own obstacles.

There is little difference in opinion anymore about the crucial importance of good education for boys and girls worldwide, other than the Taliban possibly. However, many countries spend significantly less on education than on defence. Even developed Western countries don’t always get the right balance. Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, recently wrote, in a column in The New York Times, about the enormous discrepancy between the relatively modest resources society is spending on education for young children, while large amounts are reserved for education and training for young adults and even the elderly. While we know that young children learn and absorb information far more efficiently. According to Krugman the return on extra investment in education for young children could be much higher than that of extra resources for adult education. In other words: is this just another example of how adults underestimate children?

It is a fact that children are very much a product of their environment. Circumstances per country and region differ enormously. But the gap between rich and poor is a universal problem. The annual UNICEF, The State of the World's Children reports made us face some uncomfortable facts early in 2014. In 2012 more than 6.6 million children died before the age of five, mostly of preventable diseases. It is also worrying that about 15% of children worldwide work, which means they probably don’t go to school, let alone have time to play. Notwithstanding the right to education and the right to play as described in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 11% of girls worldwide marry before they turn fifteen, which has disastrous consequences for their health, education and development.

Togo 2008

Poor Families

It is no surprise that the majority of children that are affected by this abuse come from poor families. Life is often harder for girls because women are still considered inferior. This does not mean that there has been no progress at all. Thanks to better healthcare and nutrition, since 1990 an estimated ninety million children, who would not normally have survived, are alive. Another positive statistic is that 81% of children in the least developed countries attended school in 2011, while in 1990 it was only 53%. However the differences between rich and poor remain large, both globally as well as in the different countries.

The customs that children are faced with, differ enormously per country and per culture and even per historical period. Even in the developed, Western World. In the USA it is not uncommon to teach your son or daughter how to shoot, while in Europe hardly anyone would consider the idea. Millions of children have had shooting lessons in the USA and tens of thousands even own a firearm. Americans take for granted that accidents happen, like when a nine-year-old girl in Arizona accidentally shot her instructor with an Uzi in August 2014.

In South Asia it is normal for poor families to use their children to boost the family’s income. Through the ages children have helped their parents in the fields, especially during harvest time. But they also work long hours under dire circumstances in small factories, in brickyards or as domestic help in the homes of strangers. Often working to pay off debts. Generations end up in a cycle of poverty, living without their basic human rights. The children pay a high price for this. Some look forward to the day they are allowed to go to work. They just don’t realise that with an education they would have better chances in life. It must also be said that at times the education is so poor that it has little effect.

Child Marriages

Parents in that part of Asia, as well as parts of the Middle East and Africa, intervene in another key area of their children's life. They have the final say on who their child will marry. In the case of girls this is often also at a very young age. It takes a great deal of courage to fight these deep-seated traditions. Rekha Kalindi is a young girl from India who was not prepared to settle for this. She was one of the first girls who dared to say 'no’ to her parents, when they wanted to marry her off. In Yemen, Nujood Ali took a slightly different approach. She filed for divorce at the age of ten, after being forced to marry a much older man.

Their direct environment may have prompted the children in this book to such brave actions. But their personality played an important role. They are all children with initiative and were not afraid to protest. They had the courage to stand up to adults.

Unfortunately their actions were not always successful. Child labour in Pakistan, which Iqbal Masih campaigned against in the early nineties, is still widespread. Nujood Ali is still not attending school, although that was the plan when she had freed herself from her marriage. And whether German Christiane F. really has kicked her drug habit, is highly questionable. However Nujood Ali has shown us that resistance to forced marriage is possible, in the same way Christiane F. made other children aware of the dangers of drugs, protecting them in that way.

Nepal 2014

In some cases it is difficult to determine to what extent children were really acting autonomously. In many cases it was an adult who discovered the power of the child and their indignation and encouraged them to take action. In other words: adults appear to have played a prominent role in the background of these stories about children who have changed the world. Sometimes it is their parents, like Malala's father. But it isn’t always a selfless deed, adults and organizations are known to have recognised the child's strength and to take advantage of it. Once a child has international attention, there are enough ruthless people who want to use this reputation for their own benefit.

At a presentation for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (31 October 1996) Mandela said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.” Many countries have featured in this book and the differences between countries are vast. But all the children in this book have at least one thing in common, their actions have made the adults listen. Everywhere in the world - almost all continents are represented in this book - children have tried to wake up the adult world. Not only to benefit themselves, but for the good of others. Their courage was and is still recognised and continues to inspire both children and adults. That fame does not guarantee happiness for a child with a special life story, or that the fate of some children, like Christiane F. and Kim Phúc, instil fear rather than hope, does not detract from them. They are all children that changed the world.

Els Kloek and Floris van Straaten, September 2014

Dit ebook is gelicenseerd aan Alexander van Meerten, alexander@icontact.nl op 24-04-2018

Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan) education is the source of everything

Floris van Straaten

Malala at the United Nations July 2013. Photograph: UN Photo / Eskinder Debebe.

Almost the entire Dutch Royal Family is present, including Princess Beatrix and she does not make many public appearances anymore. Prime Minister Mark Rutte sits in the front row, just one of the many Dutch government officials gathered in the old abbey church in Middelburg in the Netherlands. Then the hum of voices dies down and all eyes turn to a frail figure of a sixteen-year-old, as she takes her place behind the lectern. They are looking at Malala Yousafzai: the Pakistani girl who was fearlessly campaigning for female education in Pakistan when she was shot in the head by a Pakistani Taliban fighter on 9 October 2012. She was in critical condition, but Pakistani and British doctors managed to save her life. Now, in involuntary exile, she has continued her fight for education for girls.

Malala’s clear voice resounds under the old arches of the church as she tells her audience that she decided to wear high heels so that they would actually be able to see her behind the lectern. They laugh and Malala tries to do the same, but her smile is not what it used to be: in the attack the left part of her face was damaged, which makes her smile look forced and unnatural. As an experienced speaker the Pakistani girl raises her voice "All over the world today, as I stand here talking to you, there are millions of children who are denied the basic human right to education." She speaks like a true leader and impresses upon her audience, "We must give them courage to overcome fear, we must give them hope to step forward and we must raise up their voices so that they can be heard."

I am Malala (2013), Malala's autobiography in Hindi.

Fundamentalists

Malala has become a symbol for the fight against archaic beliefs, against deeply rooted traditions mainly in Islamic countries where men decide what is good for women and girls. A brave girl that would not be silenced, not even when threatened. Nobody could silence her, not bearded fundamentalist fighters with guns, no-one. Being awarded the Freedom from Fear Medal by the Roosevelt Academy in May 2014 in Middelburg was very appropriate. Shortly after that, on the morning of 10 October 2014, she heard that she was the recipient of an even greater mark of honour. In Oslo it was announced that Malala had won the Nobel Peace Prize, together with Kailash Satyarthi, a child labour activist from India. At seventeen this Pakistani girl is the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever. She was given the news by a teacher during a chemistry class at her school in Birmingham, where she lives in exile. The world press had to be patient for a couple of hours before she appeared in public. Despite all the excitement Malala had decided to first attend her physics and English classes.

The Nobel Peace Prize is in recognition of her work since the attack. She still has no fear as she emphasized by her visit to Nigeria, a few weeks after her visit to Middelburg, to draw attention to the fate of more than two hundred girls who had been kidnapped from their school three months earlier by Nigerian fundamentalists. The militant group Boko Haram are, like the Taliban in Pakistan, opposed to education for girls. "I consider those girls as my sisters" Malala said in the Nigerian capital Abuja, "and I am going to speak up for them until they are released." The very next day she put her words into action by personally urging President Goodluck Jonathan to do more for the girls. She also pleaded with the President, who according to many critics had been far too passive, to arrange a personal meeting with the girls' parents. Speaking to the parents was one of the first things Malala had done and it had been much appreciated. During the speech of the Pakistani girl some of the parents started to cry. And whether she had anything to do with it or not, a few days later President Jonathan finally spoke with the parents.

Radical Turn

It is ironic that around the world Malala is a welcome guest and that she has been awarded some of the most prestigious prizes internationally, but that she cannot return to her native country Pakistan. The Taliban have threatened to kill her if given the chance. So for the time being she will live in Birmingham, with her family who often travel with her, to finish secondary school in relative peace and quiet. The life of this diligent pupil took a radical turn on 9 October 2012 in the city of Mingora when a bearded young man stopped the school bus on which she was travelling with other girls. A companion of the bearded man, covering his face with a handkerchief, stepped on the tailboard and asked "Who is Malala?" When a couple of girls looked in her direction the man knew enough; he pulled out a pistol and shot her through the head at close range.

It was a miracle that she survived the attack. It turned out that the bullet had gone through her left eye socket into her left shoulder and that no vital parts of the brain had been hit. While the world was watching surgeons in Peshawar, Islamabad and Birmingham worked to save her life. Part of her skull was replaced by a small titanium plate and in her left ear she has a hearing aid that is hidden under her colourful head scarf and her hair.

Malala was taken away from her beloved Mingora where she was born on 12 July 1997 and where she spent the first fifteen years of her life. Mingora is the largest city in the beautiful Swat valley in the rugged northwest of Pakistan; the swirling river forces its way between steep mountain slopes and is lined by many orchards. Ten years ago, before the arrival of the fundamentalist Muslims, the area was a popular tourist destination.

Malala on her first trip to Africa in a classroom with her peers during a visit to Kenya in 2014. Photograph: Tanya Malott.

Repressive Attitude

Malala belongs to the Pashtun people, also known as Pathans, a large ethnic group which can be primarily found in northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Pashtuns are renowned for their pride, hospitality and valour, but also for their repressive attitude towards women. The majority of the Taliban are of Pashtun ethnicity. Women are not allowed to leave the house unaccompanied and many Pashtuns do not want girls to continue studying after they have reached puberty. Malala's mother for instance can hardly read or write. Malala's main inspiration in life is her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai. In Malala's autobiography I am Malala, which she co-wrote with the British journalist and Pakistan expert Christina Lamb in 2013, her father is depicted as a dynamic fearless figure with a big heart and a profound interest in politics and culture.

Unlike most Pashtuns, who are less intellectually oriented, from an early age Ziauddin dreamt of one day founding his own school. By trial and error he finally succeeded, although initially his family lived in poverty. When Malala was born they had no kitchen or bathroom of their own and her mother cooked on a wood fire outside their home. Unorthodox but quite naturally her father offered girls the opportunity to educate themselves as well, and not just in primary school but also in secondary school. Malala turned out to be a precocious and ambitious girl who had devoured Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time by the age of eleven. According to her book she was usually top of her class: feigned modesty is wasted on Malala.

The high street of Mingora, the town in Pakistan where Malala is from and where the attack on her life took place. Photograph: Peter Anderson, 2005.

Haram

In 2007 militant Muslims took control of the Swat Valley. Malala and Lamb give a vivid description of how this came about. The leader was 28-year-old Maulana Fazlullah, a man who had not finished secondary school and who used to operate the chair lift across the river. His second in charge used to sell street food from his bicycle in the bazaar. Over the radio, soon to be renamed Radio Mullah, Fazlullah urged men to grow a beard and to quit smoking. Fazlullah was of the opinion that televisions were "haram": contrary to Islam. His messages appealed to part of the population and his followers grew bolder by the month. First they burst into houses searching for televisions, CD's and video's, then they forbade women to visit the bazaar. More and more opponents were murdered, antique Buddhist relics were smashed to pieces and it did not take long for them to start demanding the closure of girls' schools. While some schools were simply blown-up. By that time they had taken over many of the police stations and were patrolling the town fully armed. They set up their own courts. Malala's father received threatening letters and was forced to make concessions. The Pakistani government and Pakistan’s powerful army turned a blind eye. Many people, including Malala and her father, suspected that the armed forces, or at least part of them, were in league with the fundamentalist fighters. That was not such an absurd idea, as the Pakistani secret service ISI had supported the Afghan Taliban on a large scale. Malala wrote that it looked like the whole country had gone insane.

Malala in Kenya in 2014 with the Canadian activist Craig Kielburger who started fighting against child labour at an early age. Photograph: Tanya Malott.

Fundamental Right

The situation in the Swat Valley remained tense but Malala, following in her father's footsteps, was not afraid of criticizing the Taliban. They also drew inspiration from the actions of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who was killed, in late 2007, shortly after her return from exile, presumably by the Pakistani Taliban.

At the age of eleven Malala gave her first interview on a Pakistani station. "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" she said. A line that would grow out to be more or less her motto. At the request of the BBC, she kept a diary in Urdu about her experiences in the Swat Valley, written under the pseudonym of Gul Makai (Cornflower). Her first entry was titled I am afraid. Many people read the diary. She writes "I began to see that the pen and the words that come from it can be much more powerful than machine guns, tanks or helicopters." In 2009 the army finally started a massive cleaning operation which led to heavy fighting in Mingora. But Fazlullah and his men, who had renamed themselves "Pakistani Taliban" were never actually defeated and they continued their attacks from the mountains.

In November 2013 Fazlullah became the leader, the emir, of the Pakistani Taliban, after his predecessor Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in an American drone attack. As far as is known he is at present hiding in a remote part of Afghanistan and is preparing for attacks on Pakistani targets.

National Peace Prize

In those days it was already clear that Malala and her father were potential targets, but they still kept speaking out for girls' education. Malala was invited to appear on more radio and television talk shows as she was such a unique phenomenon: an attractive Pashtun girl who dared to speak out in public against fundamentalist fighters. At the end of 2011 she was the first recipient of the Pakistani National Youth Peace Prize. However, all this attention made her an increasingly important target for the Taliban, something Malala and her father were very aware of. Her father suggested that they keep a low profile for a while, but Malala refused and told her father that they could not abandon their campaign.

After the attack, Malala and her family moved to rented accommodation in Birmingham which has a large Pakistani community. The Pakistani government employs her father as the Education Attaché at the Pakistani Consulate, but they all long for the Swat Valley they had to leave behind so suddenly. "Our house feels big and empty" she says. She speaks of house arrest in luxury. At the moment returning to the Swat Valley is impossible due to the Taliban threats. However, not all Taliban were pleased with the attack on Malala. In July 2013 when a recently recovered Malala addressed the United Nations on the occasion of her sixteenth birthday, a curious letter from Taliban commander Adnan Rasheed surfaced. Even though he offers no apologies for the attack, he writes in the letter that he regrets not having warned her against speaking up against the Taliban: "When you were attacked it was shocking for me I wished it would never happened and I had advised you before."

Girls' School

According to Rasheed, a former air force officer who later joined the Taliban, the objective of the attack was not to prevent Malala from going to school but was motivated by her "anti-Taliban activities". He does not provide any further explanation. Actually, the writer of the letter urges Malala to return to Pakistan, to attend a girls' school there and wield her pen for Islam. Malala and her family informed the public that they felt no need to respond to this letter. Rasheed was probably annoyed by the favourable publicity Malala received at the UN but also in other parts of the world, the Western world especially.

In Pakistan feelings about Malala are much more ambivalent. In the beginning, immediately after the attack, the country sympathized with her. In schools candles were lit and pupils wore signs with the text “I am Malala” the phrase she would later choose as the title of her book. Most politicians expressed their outrage at the attack and praised Malala's courage. However the mood started to change when she was transferred to Birmingham, still unconscious, followed by her family. The fact that her father was awarded a much coveted position at the Pakistani Consulate angered many people.

Political cartoon of Malala on the Pakistani website www.siasat.pk and in which she is accused of being an instrument of the Western world and apparently of Judaism as well.

Children's Peace Prize

As she rose to stardom in the West many Pakistani started having reservations about Malala. The brave Pakistani girl was received with open arms all over the world, even at the highest levels. Malala had tea with Queen Elizabeth in London, she was received by president Obama, his wife and daughters at the White House and stars like Madonna and Angelina Jolie gladly cleared their schedules for a meeting with Malala. In 2013 she was awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize by the Dutch organisation KidsRights which is like a Nobel Peace Prize for children (see the story elsewhere in this book). Soon afterwards she received the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. In 2013 she was a candidate for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize, but had to wait another year before becoming the winner.

She found favour in the West to such a large extent that many Pakistani started seeing her as an instrument of the West. Most Pakistani associate the West with the Americans and their interventions in Islamic countries (Afghanistan and Iraq), but even more strongly with the extensive deployment of drones against radical Muslims inside of Pakistan. These drones have caused hundreds of civilian casualties and this has resulted in many Pakistani wholeheartedly hating the United States. The fact that a battalion of five communication consultants from the public relations company Edelman in London assisted Malala when she arrived in Birmingham, reinforced the impression in the eyes of her critics that she was a puppet of the West. No matter how often she emphasises that she is a good, pious Muslim and no matter how discreetly she dresses for her performances abroad, she always wears the appropriate "shalwar kamiz", a traditional dress, as well as a head scarf. Her opponents continue spreading the message that she has turned against Islam.

Malala as a toddler at home in Mingora with her little brother Kushal on her right. Photograph from the book I am Malala.

Ideology

Malala has also been accused of doing this for financial gain. The large sums of money that accompany her prizes and the princely advance she received for her memoires (according to rumour over 1.5 million British pounds), reinforced that suspicion with many Pakistani. They seem oblivious to the fact that Malala transferred all the money into the Malala Fund for the advancement of education for girls. A federation of public schools in Pakistan decided to ban her book and not allow it in the libraries of their 40,000 schools. Kashif Mirza, Chairman of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, stated in 2013: "Pakistan is an ideological country. That ideology is based on Islam.... In this book are many comments that are contrary to our ideology." He also accused her of defending the freedom of speech of the writer Salman Rushdie, who is a traitor of Islam in the eyes of many Muslims, many of whom have not even read any of his works. Mirza accuses Malala of having become an instrument in Western hands. There are still well educated Pakistani who consider Malala to be a heroine, but a much larger part of the less well educated population is dominated by scepticism and criticism. The question remains whether it was Malala's own decision to become the champion of girls' education, or whether she was pushed into that role by the people around her. The Pakistani journalist Irfan Ashraf, a local employee of the New York Times in Pakistan, who claims he "discovered" Malala, suggests that the latter is the case.

Mediagenic

Some weeks after the attack on Malala in the American Magazine Pacific Standard, Ashraf expressed his regret that he had exposed this young girl to great dangers at the age of twelve, as a result of a couple of short documentaries he had made about her in 2009. It was these films that sparked the interest of the international media. A young girl speaking out so bravely for girls' education and against the Taliban. Even then Malala was used by journalists. For them she was a godsend. A more mediagenic contrast with the ruthless bearded men was hard to find. Ashraf says in the interview "…we made her an icon. I don’t know if, at that age, you can understand what it means to become an icon." Ashraf also doubts whether Malala was sufficiently aware of the enormous risks involved with the role she had taken on and he has the same doubts about her father.

But this self-directed blame can also be considered a manifestation of traditional paternalistic thinking. People who come into contact with either father or daughter are usually very impressed by their tenacity: a character trait that fits in well with their Pashtun background.

Malala on the cover of Time Magazine in April/May 2013 as one of the most influential people in the world.

World Star

Whatever happens, there is no turning back for Malala. She has become famous at a very young age and will remain so for years to come. She will never have an ordinary childhood like her peers in Mingora, who are once again beginning to see a return to normality in their lives. She cannot keep telling her story forever. After hearing it a number of times it loses its impact.

So what will this young world star do next? She has often hinted at her plans to go into politics, following in the footsteps of Benazir Bhutto. But, probably too controversial in her own country and without the network to get anywhere in the male dominated political world of Afghanistan her options are limited. Not to mention the chance of another assassination. Benazir Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan after a long period of exile only to be murdered a couple of weeks later, is a sad reminder for her. But whatever Malala decides to do with her life, it is already certain that she has been and still is an important source of inspiration for millions of girls and young women. Even fundamentalists with assassination plans can never undo that.

Dit ebook is gelicenseerd aan Alexander van Meerten, alexander@icontact.nl op 24-04-2018

Anne Frank (the Netherlands) the girl who dreamed of becoming a writer

David Barnouw

Anne’s father, Otto Frank is the only member of the family to return after the war. Here he is in the attic of the Secret Annexe, 1 May 1960. Photo Arnold Newman/Getty Images.

The last Anne Frank we saw was played by Rosa da Silva, the lead actress in the new theatre show Anne. She is one of many young women and girls who have portrayed Anne Frank on the (school) stage or in movies. In the fifties, playing Anne on stage was a big deal. The papers were filled with group photos of girls from different countries, all having portrayed Anne Frank on stage. This often changed their lives, making them want to dedicate their lives to creating a better world. Four decades later, Anne Frank is still just as popular. KLM took advantage of this during the 75th anniversary celebrations in 1995. They brought 26 Anne Frank actresses from around the world to Amsterdam, to celebrate Anne's birthday. They called the event Bridging the World, and KLM's monthly magazine referred to Anne's life as "a symbol of Amsterdam, a tragic one, that nevertheless personifies hope." Millions of readers have an image of Anne, hundreds of thousands developed this image through the plays or movies that were created about her. And as there have been so many portrayals of Anne, it is a good idea to go back to where it all began.

Anne Frank, May 1942. Photo collections Anne Frank Foundation Amsterdam / Anne Frank Fund Basel.

In Germany

On 12 June 1942, Anne Frank got a blank notebook for her thirteenth birthday. She used it as a diary. By December, her notebook was completely filled. After that, she continued to write about her life in school notebooks. Initially she wrote letters to numerous imaginary friends, but in the end, she only wrote to 'Kitty'. In 1942, she writes about her German roots (direct translation including errors):

"I was born on 12 June, 1929, in Frankfurt a/M. I lived in Frankfurt until I was four years old, when my father Otto Heinrich Frank moved to Holland to find a job that was in June. He found something, and in September his wife, Edith Frank-Holländer, also moved to Holland. Margot and I went to Aachen, where my grandmother Rosa Holländer-Stern lived, Margot went to Holland in December. I went in February where I was put on the table in front of Margot as a birthday present."

So Anne came from Frankfurt, a liberal and modern city around 1900, apparently with no room for anti-Semitism. The Frank family lived a good life, they were an assimilated liberal Jewish family. Anne's grandfather died in 1909 and her grandmother continued running the family banking business. Like hundreds of thousands of other Jewish Germans, Anne's father - Otto Heinrich Frank, born in 1889 - had fought in the German army during the First World War. He served with an artillery regiment that was active at the western front from the end of 1915. At the end of the war (1918) he returned home a lieutenant.

Girls' School

After the war the family banking business was doing particularly badly. As were so many businesses after losing the war and with the resulting inflation. So Otto was sent to Amsterdam in 1923 to establish a new company. He opened the bank M. Frank & Sons at 604 Keizersgracht. This endeavour was not successful and Otto returned home within a year. A year later, he married Edith Holländer, daughter of a wealthy Jewish family in Aachen. The Holländer family was more religious than the Frank family, but Edith had attended a roman-catholic girls' school. The young couple moved in with Otto's mother, and in 1926 Margot Betti Frank was born. The family of three moved to their own house, so that Margot would be able to enjoy a more liberal and modern upbringing. In 1929, Anne was born.

Anne lived in Frankfurt for four years, in a spacious apartment at 307 Marbach Street, nothing indicated that the quiet life of the Frank family would soon change so dramatically. The only problem they faced was Otto Frank having to find a new job as the family bank was still not doing well. His brother-in-law had set up an Opekta agency in Switzerland. Opekta sold a gelling agent that was used mostly for making jelly. In 1933, Otto returned to Amsterdam to start up an Opekta agency. It was a combination of economic necessity and fear of the Germans that lead to the move. He was not planning to stay in Amsterdam for long, so he started looking for a house he could rent. Initially Edith, Margot, and Anne remained in Aachen, with the Holländer family.

Anne Frank was only four years old when she came to live in the Netherlands. Here she is photographed on the Merwedeplein with two friends in July 1936. The photograph is a composition with a current photo of the same square. In the background the skyscraper, which was brand-new at the time. Anne standing on the right, Sanne Ledermann in the middle and Eva Goldberg on the left. The composition was made for the mobile application Anne's Amsterdam, which leads tourist on a historic tour through Amsterdam as Anne would have known it. Edition Michel Dankaarts LBi Lost Boys / Anne Frank Foundation.

Merwedeplein in Amsterdam

Finally, on 5 December 1933, the Frank family moved into the second floor of the house at 37 Merwedeplein, in a brand-new neighbourhood in Amsterdam South. Close to a famous skyscraper. The building, twelve floors high, was the highest residential building in the Netherlands at that time. The move to Amsterdam - Otto did not want to call it an escape - was the hardest on Edith. Her husband and children picked up the Dutch language quickly, but she spoke mostly German. Probably mainly because they had so many German friends in Amsterdam. The Jewish religious life in Amsterdam was much more conservative than in liberal Frankfurt. Surprised by that much conservatism among the Jews from Amsterdam, Otto Frank was one of those involved with the foundation of a liberal Jewish organisation. Edith Frank remained more conservative.

Buddy Elias (1925) is Anne Frank's cousin, who was four years older than her and is still alive. He became a stage actor and this photo can be found on the website of model agency Agentur Nicolai in Germany. Anne dreamed of how he would teach her to figure skate. Photo Sarah Suter.

Anne, only four when she moved to the Netherlands, was brought up Dutch, especially at school and on the streets, with her Dutch friends. In her diary, she describes a wonderful childhood, where female and male friends ('admirers') play a large part. She is not as studious as Margot, but finishes her primary education with flair. In her diaries, she makes fun of both others and herself. Anne goes to a Montessori school, a school with a progressive type of education. A true chatterbox in the classroom gets her into trouble with her teachers, but they are not very hard on her. Anne, like most children at that time plays in the streets a lot - there were few cars at the time. The Frank family also travel a lot, day trips to the beach as well as holidays to Italy and to family in Basel. Her cousin Buddy or Berndt (officially Bernhardt) Elias lived in Basel. Buddy, who is still alive was four years older than Anne. He loved figure skating, which Anne also dreamed of learning. In October 1942 she made the following entry in her diary:

"Bernd is diligently teaching me how to figure skate and I will be his partner because his partner is gone anyway, we make a cute couple together and everyone is delighted, we’ll send five photos to the office 1 Anne swirling 2 Anne arm in arm with Bernd, left foot forward 3 Anne waltzing with Bernd 4 Anne and Bernd - swan 5 Anne left, Bernd right, blowing kisses. (18 October 1942)."

Buddy would indeed later on become a figure skater, but without Anne. From 1947, he performed as a star in the ice show Holiday on Ice. Later, he became a stage actor in Berlin, and much later honorary president of the Anne Frank Fund in Switzerland.

In the meantime, things became worse for the Jews in Germany. The lowest point at that time was the Kristallnacht (literally: 'crystal night'), late on 8 November 1938, synagogues, Jewish homes, shops and schools all over Germany were attacked. Hundreds of Jews were killed, thousands of buildings set on fire. Reason enough for the Frank family to try to get Edith's mother to the Netherlands as well. At the beginning of 1939, Otto Frank succeeded in getting the necessary permits for her. She would live with the Frank family in Amsterdam until she died in January 1942. The Franks keep a close eye on everything happening across the border. A few weeks before the Germans invade the Netherlands, Margot writes to a pen pal in the United States: "We listen to the radio a lot, these are exciting times. Our small country borders Germany and we do not feel safe."

The German police blocking off the Jewish quarter at the Blauwbrug, 12 February 1941. Historic image, combined with a modern photo. From the app Anne's Amsterdam of the Anne Frank House. Edition Michel Dankaarts LBi Lost Boys / Anne Frank Foundation / BeeldbankWO2 - NIOD - Stapf Bilderdienst.

The War Arrives to the Netherlands

The battle in May 1940 only lasted five days. At first, there was a sense of relief, as the Germans did not appear to have bad intentions, but that quickly changed. Increasingly more measures against the Jews were announced. At the end of June 1942, Anne summarises this in her diary by dryly stating all measures, without giving any comments:

“Now that the Germans have taken control here, our troubles have started. First the distribution and buying everything with stamps, and then came the anti-Jewish laws. Jews are required to wear a yellow star, Jews are required to turn in their bicycles, Jews are forbidden to use trams, Jews are forbidden to ride in cars, even their own, Jews must do their shopping between 3 and 5 pm, Jews may only go to Jewish-owned barbershops and beauty parlours, Jews are forbidden to be out on the streets between 8 pm and 6 am, Jews are forbidden to attend theatres, movies or any other forms of entertainment, Jews are forbidden to use swimming pools, tennis courts, hockey fields or any other athletic fields, Jews are forbidden to go rowing, Jews are forbidden to take part in any athletic activity in public, Jews are forbidden to sit in their gardens or those of their friends after 8 pm, Jews are forbidden to visit Christians in their homes, Jews are required to attend Jewish schools, and so on. This was our life, we cannot do this and we cannot do that.”

A few days later, on 5 July 1942, the unthinkable happens, Margot is called up by the Germans. She must report "for possible participation in a, police-supervised, work expansion activity in Germany." That meant deportation to an unknown destination, with an unknown fate.

Otto Frank and his friends had been working on a hiding place, this call up meant they needed to go into hiding immediately. The next day, the Frank family left Merwedeplein and moved into the concealed part of Otto Frank's business at 263 Prinsengracht. Anne took her diary with her and wrote about almost everything. That is why we know a lot about the time the Frank family spent in hiding, along with Mr. and Mrs. Van Pels, their son Peter, and eventually a dentist, Fitz Pfeffer. Her diary became her defence against all irritations and tensions that came with being in hiding.

Stories and Tales

She has a good sense of humour and this comes across in her stories about life with eight people living in a tiny space literally trying to survive. In her diary, she describes the tension, but also the fun moments, which she elaborates on in a notebook entitled: Stories and Tales from the Secret Annexe. Those stories had titles such as: Did Someone Break In?; The Dentist; The Fight over Potatoes and Freedom in the Secret Annexe. More personal of course, were Anne's diary entries about going through puberty, her fights with her mother and her affection for her father, whom she lovingly calls Pim. Anne also reflects on what she has written, as can be seen in her diary entry of 2 January 1944:

"When I had nothing to do this morning, I browsed through my diary and found a number of letters on the subject "mother", written in such harsh terms, that I was actually shocked and wondered: "Anne, are you the one that talked about hatred, oh Anne, how could you do that?" I held the open page in my hand and thought about how it was possible that I was filled with so much anger, and actually hatred, I just had to tell you about it."

Anne ends this diary letter as follows:

"I hid myself in me, only looked at myself, and wrote down all my joy, mockery, and sadness in my diary. Without any reservations. This diary has value for me, because it often became a book of memories, but on many of the pages, I would like to write 'Over'."

Of course, Anne also writes about her increasing love for Peter, whom she initially called a "rather boring and shy guy", "of whose company we cannot expect much". At the beginning of 1944 that changes, and she starts writing about him in a more positive way, but also: '"But you should not think that I am in love with Peter, absolutely not." Peter and Anne start spending more time together, much to the frustration of the other occupants, however Anne remains critical of him. "Peter is gentle and kind, but I should not lie, a lot also disappoints me. Especially his rejection of religion, dinner conversations, and more random things that I do not like (13 June 1944)."

Two pages from Anne Frank's diary, with a picture of her and her sister Margot at the beach in Zandvoort in 1939. Photo Anne Frank House.

Wartime Memories

Anne also states in her diary that she wants to be a writer when she grows up, or a journalist. She is determined to do something with her diary in the future. By a quirk of fate, in March 1944, they heard a speech by the Dutch Minister of Education on Radio Oranje, broadcast from England. Saying that after the war, there would be repository for all wartime memories. According to the minister, diaries would also be part of this. "Of course, they all ran straight to my diary. Imagine how interesting it would be, if I would publish a novel about the Secret Annexe. The title would probably make people think that it was a detective story." Anne saw this announcement as a reason to think more about her diary, a few weeks later, she writes: 'After the war, I do want to publish a book named The Secret Annexe. Whether I will succeed is still to be seen, but my diary could help.'

Anne started to rewrite her diary on thin carbon paper, as notebooks were no longer for sale because of the scarcity of paper. She left out some things, expanded on other letters. It is remarkable how much her grammar and use of language have improved. In her first version, there are many errors and corrections, but the rewritten version is almost word perfect. At times she changes the dates and she makes a list of pseudonyms for other people in hiding. She calls herself Anne Robin. She is now working on a real book. While she continues to keep her original diary.

SS

Anne didn't finish the revised version of her diary. On 4 August 1944, the police and Gestapo raided the secret Prinsengracht annexe, looking for Jews in hiding. They must have been betrayed. At that time, Anne had over 300 pages, she finished editing up until 29 March 1944. The eight people in hiding and two employees who had helped them were first brought to a German prison on Euterpe Street. Four days later, they were transported to Westerbork, a transit camp. The two men who had helped to hide them were transported to a camp in Amersfoort in the Netherlands, they survived the German occupation.

Life in Westerbork was relatively free for Anne and her housemates, compared to that in the secret annexe. However, this lasted only four weeks. On 3 September 1944, they were put on what would be the last train from Westerbork to the concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. A little less than two months later, Anne and Margot Frank were relocated by train to Bergen-Belsen in Lower Saxony. From a few eyewitness accounts it is clear that they were in poor condition when they arrived at the beginning of March 1945. Soon after this they died in short succession of each other, of exhaustion and typhus. Of the eight people in the secret annexe, Anne’s father Otto Frank, was the only one that survived the war.

Rosa da Silva in the play Anne, which was first performed in 2014 in Amsterdam. Photo Kurt van der Elst.

From Diarist to Icon

When the people in the secret annexe were arrested, the diary and the rewritten version stayed behind. One of the helpers, Miep Gies, kept it safe and gave it back to Otto Frank when he returned alone. He eventually succeeded in publishing The Secret Annexe, Diary letters from 14 June 1942 - 1 August 1944. Over time, the reasonably successful book became an international bestseller, and Anne Frank became increasingly more famous. Partly due to the tireless efforts of Otto Frank to have the book reprinted and translated, but mostly due to the success of the American theatre version that was made in 1955. The play attracted many people, both in the United States and in Europe. In Hamburg young people visited the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen to lay down flowers in memory of Anne and Margot. There was also more attention for the building Anne had hidden in. In 1960, the houses at 263 and 265 Prinsengracht opened to the public. The Anne Frank Foundation would manage the Secret Annexe as "a symbol of the past and as a remaining memory to how far hatred and discrimination of people with other ideas and convictions can lead."

Image from the movie The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) by George Stevens. Millie Perkins plays Anne, Joseph Schildkraut her father Otto. On the right Shelley Winters in the role of Auguste van Pels, who also lived in the Secret Annex, and was called Petronella van Daan in the diary. We can also see sister Margot (Diane Baker, on the left), mother Edith (Gusti Huber), Peter van Pels (Richard Beymer). In the front: Hermann van Pels / Hermann van Daan (Lou Jacobi).

But Otto Frank wanted more than readers and visitors to the plays or the Anne Frank House. He wanted to have youngsters from all over the world play an active role in making the world a better place, without hatred or discrimination. He established an International Youth Centre for conferences which remained active for approximately ten years, but by then, interest waned and the planned Anne Frank Academy to train leaders for the conferences was no longer viable. The Anne Frank Foundation continued without an International Youth Centre or conferences.

However, thousands of people continued writing to Otto Frank. So many, that his days were filled replying to letters he received. In 1970, he writes:

"The many letters from young people show that they identify with Anne, that her optimism and her faith support them in solving their own issues. Many are brought to think about the persecution of the Jews under Hitler, and compare this to current situations in the world, in which there is still war, in which people are still discriminated against and persecuted for their faith, their race, or their beliefs."

But it was not just young people who wrote to him: 'Parents and teachers wrote that they, after having read the diary, better understood their children or students, and that discussing the book has brought them closer.'

One year before Otto Frank's death, the Foundation found a new way to reach the Dutch youth: the Anne Frank newspaper, which would be distributed yearly to primary schools. On 1 February 2006, British actress Emma Thompson revealed the 'Anne Frank Tree' in the garden of the Secret Annexe. This tree is a symbolic replacement of the chestnut tree in the garden of 188 Prinsengracht, which is mentioned in Anne's diary and which in 2006 was already dying. On the website www.annefrank.org everyone around the world can hang a virtual leaf in this tree. 'Leave your leaf in the virtual chestnut tree, pass it on, and keep Anne Frank's ideals alive.' In July 2014, there were more than 700,000 digital leaves in the tree. Anne's chestnut tree was blown over in a storm in 2010, but her virtual tree will live on as part of social media.

Condemnation

Did Anne Frank change the world? I think not, but Anne Frank is a symbol for many things, in the beginning she was a symbol of all injustice in the world. Now she has become a personified condemnation against the horrors of the Holocaust. She is also a very important source of inspiration to people all over the world, to fight against injustice. It is remarkable to what extent people personally identify with Anne Frank. How the struggle for freedom, now and in the past, can be compared to her journey. That is illustrated in the Dutch program In de rij voor Anne Frank (Queueing up for Anne Frank) on 4 May 2014. Quotes from the show include that from two Kurds who fled Iraq, and who went into hiding, "like Anne Frank." A gay man from Paraguay, visiting Amsterdam for the Canal Pride parade, visits the Anne Frank House, and says: "There are similarities between my life and that of Anne Frank." Two Tibetan monks say that "the fight Anne Frank fought also applies to us Tibetans." A black man from the South in the United States says: "In a way, we lived the life of Anne Frank." The only one who refers to Anne Frank being dead, is an old Chinese lady who survived the horror of the Japanese occupation during the Second World War. She does not compare herself to Anne.

This way, everyone can take something from Anne's story, for now or later.

Bahumi from Botswana, in the queue at the Anne Frank House, reads from Anne's diary: "But, and that is the big question, will I ever be able to write something important? Will I ever become a journalist or writer?" (5 April 1944). Image from the documentary In de rij voor Anne Frank by Robert Schinkel, broadcasted by the NOS on 4 May 2014.

Dit ebook is gelicenseerd aan Alexander van Meerten, alexander@icontact.nl op 24-04-2018

Authors (full edition)

Aletta André is a journalist who has been living in New Delhi, India since 2009. In her work as a freelance correspondent she writes for newspapers, magazines and radio, including Dutch and German newspapers and radio stations. Working from all over India and the neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bhutan. You can find a selection of her work at http://alettaandre.wordpress.com

Pauline Bax (1969) began her career in journalism as an apprentice at the Harper’s Magazine in New York. She worked in Paris for a French news agency, AFP, before moving to the Ivory Coast as the West Africa correspondent. She writes from fifteen countries in the region for the NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch newspaper as well as NOS, a Dutch radio station. Pauline has worked as the regional correspondent for Bloomberg News, an international news agency since 2012 and is based in Ghana.

David Barnouw (1949) is an expert on war, who has been associated with the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in the Netherlands for many years. He has also published books in the Netherlands on subjects as diverse as Anne Frank and war stamps.

Joeri Boom (1971), an award-winning (war) reporter he studied history and worked at De Groene Amsterdammer, an independent Dutch weekly news magazine from 1995. He won Het Gouden Pennetje (the golden pen) for his writing in 1998 as well as the Dick Scherpenzeel Prize in 2010 for his book Als een nacht met duizend sterren, about Dutch war reporters in Afghanistan. He has been based in Delhi as foreign correspondent for South-Asia for the NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch newspaper. Twitter

Floor Boon (1983) studied politics and journalism and has been living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since 2012, where she works as a correspondent for various foreign newspapers including NRC Handelsblad and De Standaard. Her report on the US National Security Agency, written in collaboration with two colleagues, was nominated for two journalism awards in the Netherlands in 2014. In 2002, Floor visited the mines in Potosi in Bolivia, she may even have bumped into Basilio Vargas (without knowing it).

Nicole Bosch (1969) has been working in Germany as a journalist and public relations manager for the last ten years. She also worked as a correspondent in Detroit, US. Her reports include the environment, economy and human interest and she has written articles in various international magazines. She has also worked for Sprinx, a company focused on energy saving. See also www.nicolebosch.nl

Fréderike Geerdink (1970) has been working as freelance correspondent in Turkey since 2006. She is currently based in Diyarbakir. She specializes in human rights and the Kurds and in 2014 wrote a book on these two issues. She also publishes articles for Dutch newspapers and magazines, international media as well as radio programmes for a Muslim broadcasting service. See also www.journalistinturkey.com.

Elles van Gelder (1978) is a freelance correspondent in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her work has been published in various Dutch and international newspapers and magazines. She makes radio and television programmes for a number of Dutch television networks. She won the World Press Photo Multimedia Award in 2012 for a short film about an extreme right-wing organization in South Africa. See also www.ellesvangelder.nl.

Diederik van Hoogstraten (1969) is a correspondent in Los Angeles for the NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch newspaper, and other media. He has been writing about the United States since the nineties. Diederik’s book The Running Dutchman is available in English on Amazon.com as both a paperback and as an ebook. He blogs at http://therunningdutchman.wordpress.com and is on Twitter

Els Kloek (1952) is a freelance historian. She has worked at the University of Utrecht and Huygens ING, a research institute for history and culture in the Netherlands. She has initiated history series, exhibitions and websites. In 2013 she published a book 1001 Vrouwen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis, about 1001 women in Dutch history. See also www.elskloek.nl.

Frank Kuin (1970)  has been working as a Canada-based correspondent for the Dutch national daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad and other media since 1998. He lives in Montreal and has also spent periods on assignment in Toronto, Vancouver and New York. He has written reportage and background articles across North America, from the U.S.-Mexican border to the Arctic. His work is online at www.frankkuin.com.

Peter de Ruiter (1960) is a photographer and author who has published some twenty books about digital photography, countries, cultures and human rights. One of his books from 2008 on child labour, A World for Children - Growing up Without Child Labour was published in Dutch, English and French. In 2010 he wrote the book Burma: Beauty and the Beast. He has published ebooks and books, including this one, under the name PixelPerfect Publications for a number of years.

Judith Spiegel (1970) is a correspondent for a number of Dutch newspapers, magazines and television and in 2013 wrote the book Een hoofdoek tegen kogels about Yemen’s uprising and the events leading to this. She is currently working on a book about her kidnapping in Yemen in 2013. Judith is now living in Kuwait and can be followed via her blog www.judithspiegel.nl

Judith Stalpers (1955) writes for Dutch and German media, mainly about Japan, where she lived for more than twenty years. Two recent books of hers are about Fukushima (2011) and Japan (2014 second edition), which she wrote together with Florian Coulmas.

Floris van Straaten (1958) is the Asia editor at the NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch newspaper. He was previously a correspondent for India and Great Britain for the same newspaper. Floris studied history and international relations and has worked for the US news agency Reuters for some time as well as working as a freelancer in Pakistan. In 2012 he published a book on multiculturalism in London.

Jeltje Zijlstra (1983) studied Dutch, is self-employed and works in the field of sustainability, creativity and communication. She worked with Els Kloek on the Dutch Biographical Portal, a historical portal, and 1001 Vrouwen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis a book about 1001 women in Dutch history (2013).

Colophon

Our sincere thanks to the translators for making this English ebook possible and to everyone who devoted themselves, heart and soul, to creating this book. Thank you for working with us to improve the lives of underprivileged children.

An initiative of Peter de Ruiter

Dutch Editors Els Kloek and Floris van Straaten

English Translation Pauline Bax, Monique van Brandenburg, Christine Delaney, Eugène van Dijk, Carri Dix (editor-in-chief) Diederik van Hoogstraten, Frank Kuin, Kimberley Steeneken, Vreni van Unen, Adine Versluis, Jim Wake en Ans Wegter.

Original Text Aletta André, David Barnouw, Pauline Bax, Joeri Boom, Floor Boon, Nicole Bosch, Fréderike Geerdink, Elles van Gelder, Diederik van Hoogstraten, Els Kloek, Frank Kuin, Peter de Ruiter, Judith Spiegel, Judith Stalpers, Floris van Straaten and Jeltje Zijlstra

Photography See captions. Cover: Peter de Ruiter. Michaela DePrince: Rachel Neville / Harlem Dance Theatre

Book Design Helga Hamstra

Cover Design Pieter Kers

Dutch Website www.kinderenveranderen.nl

© 2014 PixelPerfect Publications

© 2014 Authors' Texts

English ebook Edition ISBN 978 94 91833 229

Dutch Edition ISBN 978 94 91833 182

Dutch ebook Edition ISBN 978 94 91833 212

BISAC

POL035010  POLITICAL SCIENCE / Human Rights

HIS054000 HISTORY / Social History

BIO032000 BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Social Activists

POL004000 POLITICAL SCIENCE / Civil Rights

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any way without prior written permission from the publisher.

Publisher

PixelPerfect Publications

Peter de Ruiter

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2585 EK The Hague

The Netherlands

+31 70 306 00 13

www.pixelperfectpublications.nl

mail@peterderuiter.nl

This publication was realized with the support of ASN Bank

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