WEBVTT

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Hello, good afternoon.

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As he said, my name is Jeroo Billimoria

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and what I like doing is 
starting organizations

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because I think everyone of us can 
do something to change the world.

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So, here you see two things:

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Child Helpline International 
and Aflatoun.

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I've started six organizations,

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so I'll share with you 
a bit of my journey

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and ask you all some questions 
on the way, if that's okay.

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I started very young, actually, 
I started when I was sixteen,

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and that's when I argued with my mom 
and started my first organization.

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You know, we all do that 
as adolescents, right?

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And that was basically 
to teach math skills to students

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so that they would not fail in school.

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And that was where it started.

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Then of course I went abroad,
studied, the whole gamut,

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and was working 
with street children in India.

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They said that they wanted somewhere 
where they could call up 24 hours a day,

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not between the convenient times 
of our social workers,

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because they said,
"You all make money,

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you make it at our expense, but 
you're never there when we need you."

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That was basically what they said.

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So they said, "Have a service!"

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When we first went there,

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and I approached the Telecom 
authorities and other people,

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they said, 
"A phone service with street children?

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And who will run it? 
You mean professional people?"

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I said, 
"No, the kids themselves will run it."

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And they thought I was crazy.

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So they refused and we didn't get 
a toll free number from the government.

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So we tried again, and this time 
we said, "Let's be smart."

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I was teaching at Tata Institute,

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but there were no student researchers 
who wanted to work,

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so we got a bunch of street kids together 
and they did the first ever research study

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on why they as street kids wanted to have 
a phone service for street children.

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So we took this research study 
and then we went and presented it

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to the Deputy Director General 
of the Telecom,

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we got the toll free number 
and today, in a way, this is history.

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CHILDLINE India is a project 
of the government of India,

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it is part of the child protection system,

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we received two million phone calls
from children,

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are spread in 80 districts 
across the country,

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and based on the calls 
which came from CHILDLINE India,

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we now have a government policy

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where the government 
was forced to acknowledge

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the amount of demand there was 
for protection services

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and from a budget of one crore,
that's around 250,000,

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they now give 100 crore 
integrated child protection scheme

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linked to the policy.

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So that's what happened 
and it only happened

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because a bunch of kids had enough guts 
and were willing to follow and do stuff.

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From CHILDLINE India, 
which is still where my heart lies,

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we moved into 
Child Helpline International,

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so that's what you see over there.

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Many countries started asking us 
about helplines for children by children.

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Germany has a very established helpline,
which has been there for almost 25 years.

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Which is from -- 
all of you know.

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But there are no helplines 
in economically developing countries

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because everyone said telecoms cannot work 
for economically developing countries,

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even though CHILDLINE India 
had proved otherwise.

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So we said, okay, let's take up 
the challenge globally, and we did.

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Today, we are Child Helpline International, 
it's in 150 countries.

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We have live helplines 
in more than 110 countries

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and respond to between 14-18 million 
calls and contacts annually

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and have helped on an annual basis 
more than a million children

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who were being abused 
from different sorts of abuses.

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So basically if you will look at this story, 
I think the important thing is that

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anyone of you can have an idea and then,

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if you just follow your heart 
and your dream, and ...

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It's easy!
(Laughter)

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Just ... go ahead 
and just do it, you know?

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And you'll be able 
to work with a lot of people,

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So -- looking at that.

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But after taking Child Helpline global

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and today, since its inception, we have
responded to more than 55 million calls,

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that's more than 
half a billion phone calls,

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and helped millions 
and millions of children.

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But I can tell you myself,

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I don't mean to be complacent, 
what is the cause of the problems?

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Why do the children run away, 
why is there abuse in the homes?

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What is happening?

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Even with the economic crisis,

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everyone's talked about
the millions that have been lost,

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the billions of bailouts, 
rescue packages, the whole gamut.

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But the truth is that the child, 
who is most affected,

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nobody has ever talked about that.

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Through the crisis, 
more children have been abused at home,

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more children have been 
forced to drop out,

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more children are not able 
to meet their basic school fees,

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and malnourishment 
in families has increased.

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So this is something that is happening
where macroeconomics affects children.

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So the question, not just with the crisis,
but even when I spoke to street children,

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why did they run away from home,


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is because they saw 
no opportunities at home.

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So then the question was,

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how can you work to create a society 
where every child really feels empowered?

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And then the question I posed, and 
I think actually some of my kids said,

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is what you really need to know is 
know about money, know how to use it.

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And here I'm going to take 
a one second break and ask you all:

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How many of you started saving
when you were children?

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Just raise your hands.

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Most of you.

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How many of you who have kids 
do teach your children to save?

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Or your cousins, or ...?

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Those who have kids, 
you teach your kids to save.

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What happens in a family 
which has never learned to save?

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Do they ever manage?

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Be it in Germany, be it in the US, 
be it in rural India?

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What happens? There is nobody
who can teach children about saving.

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Teach them about investments, teach them 
about believing and having a choice.

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And that is what Aflatoun does.

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Aflatoun teaches children 
to believe in themselves.

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I can go on and on about Aflatoun, 


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but here I'm going 
to take a two minute pause

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and ask them to show you a film 
which was made by Aflatoun

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with our kids in parallel.

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So I'll step aside 
so you can see the Aflatoun film

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which brings the spirit of what Aflatoun is.

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(Video)

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(Music)

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♪ I am Aflatoun ♪

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♪ I'm a fireball ♪

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♪ I come from outer space ♪

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♪ From far away I come ♪

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♪ I am Aflatoun ♪

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♪ I like playing games ♪

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♪ I live inside a child ♪

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♪ And give her strength, I do ♪

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♪ I like teaching your children 
about their rights ♪

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♪ I teach them saving and spending 
and enterprise ♪

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♪ They discover their powers, 
that's what I'm all about ♪

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♪ Separate fiction from fact ♪

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♪ Explore, think, investigate and act. ♪

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♪ Make a change around the world ♪

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♪ It's our choice 
as an Aflatoun boy and girl ♪

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♪ I'm aware of what my rights are ♪

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♪ and how this can bring me so far ♪

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♪ But I know what my duties are too ♪

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♪ I'm an empowered child! ♪

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♪ I am Aflatoun ♪

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♪ I know who I am ♪

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♪ The flame that burns so bright, 
burns in me too, it does. ♪

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♪ I am Aflatoun ♪

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♪ I save coins and things ♪

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♪ Things that are valuable 
are safe with me, they are. ♪

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♪ Aflatoun helped show me 
how to plan my stuff ♪

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♪ So when it comes to resources, 
I'll have enough ♪

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♪ I'm tremendously happy, 
it's in my neighborhood. ♪

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♪ Separate fiction from fact ♪

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♪ Explore, think, investigate and act. ♪

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♪ Make a change around the world ♪

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♪ It's our choice 
as an Aflatoun boy and girl ♪

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♪ I'm aware of what my rights are 
and how this can bring me so far ♪

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♪ But I know my duties well too ♪

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♪ I'm an empowered child! ♪

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♪ Separate fiction from fact ♪

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♪ Explore, think, investigate and act ♪

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♪ Make a change around the world ♪

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♪ It's our choice 
as an Aflatoun boy and girl ♪

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♪ I'm aware of what my rights are 
and how this can bring me so far ♪

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♪ But I know my duties well too ♪

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♪ I'm an empowered child! ♪

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JB: Now, I was a school teacher, 
or at university, I still ask:

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What was there in the film?

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What were the messages 
we were communicating?

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I have seven minutes, so I can ask. 
(Laughter)

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Any idea?

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What was the main message that Aflatoun, 
according to the film, communicates?

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Woman: I'm an empowered child.

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JB: Yeah! You're an empowered child.

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Yeah. Anyone else? ... No?

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Man: Learning can be fun.

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JB: Learning can be fun!

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Someone else?

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Man: Saving money.

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JB: Saving money! Yeah!

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That's one of the main things
Aflatoun teaches,

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it teaches you to believe in yourself,

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it teaches you to save your money,

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resources, water, electricity,
everything,

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and it teaches you to be entrepreneurial, 
so you can go and follow your dream.

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That's what it teaches.

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Aflatoun is the fireball which unites

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approximately 800,000 children 
in 40 countries across the world.

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When we started with Aflatoun, 
everyone said,

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"We are not funding this. Teaching 
children to save money is bad."

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I'm not joking! Honestly. 
And I said,

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"But don't you teach your own children?"

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Yes, but teaching children 
to save money is bad.

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No NGO was willing to collaborate
and no donor was willing to fund us.

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So for the first four years actually, 
my husband and myself said,

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"Ok, we'll fund it to whatever extent 
of money we have."

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We aren't rich, but we said, 
"Let's just do it."

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And then we built it. In 2008, 
we launched the campaign,

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and just least year we had around 
560,000 children saving.

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And I have a question to all of you:

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How much do you think, last year, 
560,000 children saved?

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Most of these children are from 
less than a dollar a day families.

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Take your guess! 
How much do you think they saved?

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Collectively. Remember, there's 
less than a dollar a day families.

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Man: One million!

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JB: Go higher! You're right!
2.6 million! That's what they saved!

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Can you imagine?
2.6 million is what the children saved.

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And they started 
five thousand enterprises.

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Enterprises to start livestock,

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so a child saved, bought a chicken, why?

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So that he or she could then 
have money to go to school,

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because they saved the money, 
have the chicken, get eggs,

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make a revenue, and can eat.

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Some school children took gunny sacks and 
planted potatoes in their school playground!

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Yet others took waste and 
made bags from them.

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Yet others decided that there was 
enough space to do rice,

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so they planted rice fields in that small 
patch, and that became part of the thing.

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Others opened school canteens 
and a zillion more things.

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So, all I'm trying to say is that 
if we are able to teach children,

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they have the power and the ability 
to be the agents of change.

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And that is what Aflatoun is about.

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So that is what we do, 
that is what we believe in,

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that is what we take forward.

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Nine out of ten times, 
when we start something,

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nobody is willing to believe in us.

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And I can go on and on about 
how many people say no,

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but there are some people 
who are willing to invest in us.

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And I think those are actually 
the more courageous people

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than people like me 
who want to start things.

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I think Bart sitting there will agree.

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Because you start, fine,

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but it's the investors who say, "Hey, 
we believe in you, we take it forward."

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And that means everyone of you 
who is sitting here in this room

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has the ability to be an investor 
and to be the change,

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to be the movement which we need,

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so that our children 
don't have a financial crisis,

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so that our children can see a future

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and, like this film said, 
be empowered children and citizens.

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And the change is not with me, 
it's with you.

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So I hope we can do it.

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)