Andy Drozdziak
TV star Carrie Grant MBE has partnered with international children’s charity World Vision for the podcast series Raising Changemakers to give child labour victims a voice.
World Vision UK is a Christian charity which helps all children of all backgrounds. During every episode of the podcast series, Carrie speaks with children from Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and the UK who share how they are campaigning to transform their futures.
In the first episode, vocal coach and television presenter Carrie discusses child labour with Haja and Siatta in Sierra Leone. The two youth campaigners are working hard to raise awareness about the value of education and stopping child sandmining and timber logging in their communities, which results in sickness and missing out on schooling.
Haja told Carrie: “I am campaigning on child rights. We are telling the chiefs, pastors, imams, parents, and teachers how they should treat their children, and which kind of work they should (and should not) give them. It is your right to be educated, and it is your responsibility to take your studies seriously, and by that, if you are educated, you remove your parents from that poverty.”
Carrie, who is best known for TV singing contests Fame Academy and Pop Idol, and is currently training to be a minister, shared her hopes for the podcast. She said: “The young people who spoke to me about child labour understand that when their peers are out of school and made to work, it’s because their family need those wages to feed themselves. But they are also saying ‘enough is enough – if we are denied an education, this cycle of poverty will continue.’
She also explained the vision behind the podcast.
“World Vision UK are helping equip young people globally to stand up in front of their peers, communities, and governments to share their personal stories and advocate for change,” she said.
“Some of the issues we discuss on the podcast are historic, complex practices like FGM, and are extremely difficult for young people to speak about to parents, faith leaders, and their community.
“I feel like the world is in safe hands if young people are leading the charge for change and I hope everyone listens to the podcast to learn more about their incredible stories.”
To listen to the Raising Changemakers podcast, visit https://www.worldvision.org.uk/campaign/raising-changemakers-podcast