Every tiny star...

Who: Unicef Children's Ambassador and youth activist Bilaal Rajan
What: Mobilising charity activities and fundraisers for varied global causes
Where: Canada
Why: Charity initiatives
How: Turn to the next page to find out how a 13-year-old has debunked the age-old myth that you need to grow up before you can do anything for society.

In 2005, Bilaal Rajan was eight, the year he was chosen as the child representative and ambassador for Unicef Canada. It's also the year he visited tsunami-ravaged South-East Asia and stood among stretches and stretches of rubble.

"I was blown away," says Rajan, recalling the squalor and suffering. "When you see destruction on television - that's one thing. When you're standing in the rubble - that's another."

He saw scrambles of families without homes and children without drinking water. "It completely changes you as a person," he says. "I remember walking where homes and schools used to stand, and thought of the people who used to live and learn there, and what they must be going through. I asked myself, ‘What would my life be like if I didn't have a home to live in or a school to go to?'"

He went on to speak with people in power, hundreds of relief workers and children to tell them that efforts were being carried out "to help them get back on their feet". It's hard to associate these empathetic words with someone as young as Rajan, now 13. One really ought to swap the number of his age to read 31 instead. Perhaps then his string of titles - activist, author, motivational speaker, fundraiser and Unicef ambassador, would rest comfortably on his shoulders.

The titles are eyes-as-wide-as-saucers unbelievable, aren't they? A mere stripling, Rajan like most children his age, isn't expected to do anything other than stay out of trouble. Yet his exploits include event organising, fundraising, writing, public speaking, media interviews and working with public officials.

But before you think that these responsibilities come at a price, a price that demands that he abnegate the indulgences and frivolities of youth, refrain. Rajan hasn't immured himself in his lofty goals so inaccessibly that he cannot reach out to the fun side of life. He remains a typical teenager who hangs out with friends, watches movies and plays sport, especially tennis, soccer and skiing, and isn't "big on video games".

He loves reading and astronomy, and hopes to become an astronaut and travel into outer space. His favourite band and movie is U2 and War Dance respectively. The latter is a documentary about Ugandan youth who play music and dance to forget the horrors they experienced in the civil war. One of the stars in the film, Dominic, is his friend who lives in Toronto. Rajan dresses his 5-foot frame with regular clothes, usually jeans or khakis with a shirt or sweater for casual occasions or a suit if he has an official event.

If that event, a speaking engagement or live interview for instance, falls on a school day, his mum or dad picks him up from Lakefield College High School near Toronto, Canada, where he is a ninth grade student, and drives him to the location.

Speaking engagement? Live interview? Incredible as it sounds, Rajan speaks at conferences and addresses people much older than him. Up until a few weeks ago, he completed more than 25 media interviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

Last year, when he visited South Africa and met with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, the latter agreed saying people of all ages can make a difference. Rajan has also met several dignitaries in his native Canada and the US, Arctic, Antarctica, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa, and oftentimes, these people evinced surprise upon greeting the young paladin of charitable causes.

The probity and precocity of his efforts is, to put it mildly, impressive. He has more vim and gumption than your average 31-year-old in the manner he fights for children's rights, child poverty and environmentalism.

Right now, he is working on a Haitian relief effort called Help for Haiti Challenge.

"I'm asking each student to raise a minimum of Canadian dollars 100 [about Dh353]. This may sound like a lot, but five years ago, I issued the Canada Kids Earthquake Challenge where I urged children to each raise the same amount for the relief efforts for tsunami-devastated South-East Asia," says Rajan.

The result? Children raised a total of CA$50,000 (about Dh176,000). Separately, the Toronto District School Board presented a cheque for CA$1.3 million (about Dh4.5 million) and the Government of Canada then matched this, making the final donation nearly CA$3 million (about Dh10.5 million). There is a twist in the Help for Haiti Challenge, he says, "To have a little fun, the school that raises the largest amount will hold a public event where the students will shave my head. I just hope they're gentle!"

Now you might wonder, isn't he a little young to have mobilised youth to the degree he has and raised millions? Many ask this question. And his reply is always the same: you don't have to wait to become an adult to make a change. Rajan himself was four years old when he embarked on this selfless journey, now the leitmotif of his life.

An earthquake had ravaged the province of Gujarat in India in 2001 and his parents Aman and Shamim were reading the report. They told him about a priest from their community who had died as a result. Immediately Rajan thought of how different and difficult, his life would be without his parents. He remembers the exact moment. "I was eating a Clementine orange," he says. Almost viscerally, he suggested that he could sell oranges door-to-door in their neighbourhood to help raise funds.

And his suggestion wasn't velleity or whim. "Some neighbours said ‘no', some said ‘yes'," says Rajan who was accompanied by either a parent or grandparent.

He has since raised millions for various causes to support HIV/AIDS orphans and victims of hurricane-devastated Haiti and the tsunami in South-East Asia. He also raised more than CA$55,000 [about Dh194,000] with the World Partnership Walk organised by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) later matched. Then at seven, he founded Making Change Now, an organisation dedicated to environmental issues. If you visit his website (www.bilaalrajan.com) and read the tagline ‘inspiring kids to help kids' you will realise how aptly it resounds to his mission and reflects his life.

Rajan says, "When people say youth are the leaders of tomorrow, I disagree because it essentially says that young people have to grow up first to really make a difference."

He wanted to inspire youth so he wrote a book Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever (Orca Book Publishers, October 2008). "I wanted to share some of my experiences and thought the best way to do that was to put pen to paper. I wrote especially for young people. I wanted them to learn how possible - and how much fun - it really is to make a difference. In the book, I focus on being creative, thinking big, being bold, and never taking ‘no' for an answer," he says.

He hopes young people will read it and begin their own organisations to increase awareness about global youth issues and raise funds for kids who need help.

Personally, he feels strongly about children's rights and child poverty. "I've seen it first-hand in developing places like Tanzania, Malawi and others throughout the global south. What is so frustrating is that there is more than enough wealth to provide every single young person with education, clean drinking water, healthcare, and a home to live in. It is amazing what a fraction of the world's wealth could do to eradicate malnutrition and poverty," he says.

When he speaks of the trajectory of his young life, he says he couldn't have done so without support. His parents are his bulwark.

He says, "They guide me. They make sure I am a kid first and that I always have time to spend with friends. I also have friends involved with my organisation. I couldn't do what I do without them either. My school too supports my activism and has allowed me to hold several events on campus."

Rajan's recent enterprise is a website (www.sudokuhub.com) that allows users to play and raise funds to provide food for malnourished children in developing countries.

"I came up with the idea with a friend of mine named Adil Lalani, a Canadian web entrepreneur. We thought that if people go online to play Sudoku anyway, why wouldn't they go to a website and play to raise funds to save children's lives?" he says, adding, "As soon as sponsors come onboard, all proceeds will go to Unicef's Plumpy'nut® Program, which feeds malnourished children throughout the world."

Rajan has received recognition through several awards including this year's Child Welfare League of America Kids to Kids National Service Award. So one pauses to ask whether his little shoulders will one day tire under the encumbering weight of responsibility? It can all get a bit overwhelming, he says. "It's important to give yourself a break. I dedicate an entire chapter in my book to explain how important downtime is."

Najwa Mekki, communication specialist at the Unicef regional office

Unicef does not have child ambassadors or advocates in the Middle East and North Africa at this point, however, Najwa Mekki, communication specialist at the Unicef regional office for the Middle East & North Africa in Jordan, says, "We work a lot with young people as partners and believe in their capacity to be agents for change."

Speaking of regional activities she says Unicef encourages young people to become voices for children and youth using media. For example, Unicef organises an annual regional media award on child rights that rewards young people for their work in print media, radio, television, internet and starting this year, photography.

Unicef has two regional goodwill ambassadors for the Middle East and North Africa: Egyptian actor Mahmoud Kabil and Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. Mekki says, "Both appeal to young audiences and advocate for the issues affecting children and young people in the region."

Bilaal Rajan she says is an example of how young people can use their energy, creativity, skill and enthusiasm to serve young people like them and help make the world a better place. "He is certainly a role model for children not just in the West, but throughout the world. Bilaal has been supporting children's causes tirelessly from the tsunami to the recent earthquake in Haiti. His work as a Unicef Canada child advocate is a tribute to the tremendous work he does for children and an incentive for others to follow in his footsteps." She also hopes that Rajan's achievements will mobilise children in the Middle East and North Africa "to rally in favour of children in countries like Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territory, Sudan and Yemen."

Do you know of an individual, a group of people, a company or an organisation that is striving to make this world a better place? Every responsible, selfless act, however small or big, makes a difference. Write to Friday and tell us who these people are and what they do. We will bring you their stories in our weekly series, Making A Difference. You can email us at friday@gulfnews.com or to the pages editor at araj@gulfnews.com