As the year comes to an end, three children rescued by Bachpan Bachao Andolan took centre-stage and showed their true leadership qualities. All the three children Bunty, Om Prakash and Amarlal emerged leaders at three different fora in carrying the message 'from exploitation to empowerment' is indeed the journey 'from slavery to leadership'.

14 year old Bunty won the Pogo Amazing Kids leadership award 2007, which was awarded to him by Bollywood Superstar Aamir Khan. This former child labourer had worked in a brick kiln in Tirasi village, Madhepura district, Bihar and was rescued in 2001 by BBA activists at the tender age of 7. After having been rehabilitated in Bal Ashram he went back to his village and helped enrol 60 children in Government school Madhepura. For this and other work, he was awarded the Pogo Amazing Kids leadership award. The award carries a citation and an award money of Rs 500,000. During the award ceremony, he won the hearts of the children, audience and the celebrities present with his innocent yet precocious words – "parents give birth, but it is each one of us who carves our space in this world with our deeds; the fruits of good work are always good".

Om Prakash Gurjar, another 15 year old from Bal Ashram was the Indian pride at the International Children's Peace Prize this year. He had won the prominent award, also called as the 'Children's Nobel' in 2006. Instituted last year, the award is given to a child with exceptional contribution to children's rights. Om Prakash was instrumental in 500 children of his and adjacent villages' children obtaining their Universal Birth Registration through birth certificate which is the first identity of a child. He also raised voice against the practice of fees taken by the Principal and teachers of his school though education is free and is their fundamental right. The case was referred to the Rajasthan State Human rights commission which took unprecedented action and said that action would be taken against any school official who charges invisible costs like building cost etc from any child. This made education truly free, due to the efforts of Om Prakash. He is now in his Class X. This year he went to Amsterdam to hand over the prize to this year's winner, Thandiwe Chama, a brave girl from Lusaka, Zambia who helped provide education for 60 children in her community in Lusaka when their own school was closed. The award was handed over by Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the erstwhile USSR and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Amarlal's voice is the voice of children of the world. Chosen as a child representative to speak alongside world leaders in the High Level Group on Education, a UNESCO initiative, Amarlal was a 'young advocate' representing the voice of child labourers across the world and highlighted their need of education to the assembled world policy makers on education. The High Level Group (HLG) on Education is a forum of education ministers of the countries of the world besides Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, the sole civil society representative. Amarlal joined hands with 3 other children from Liberia, Senegal and Columbia each representing his own country and the needs of children's right to education. Amarlal reminded the delegates –"Keep your promises to world's children by allocating more budget for education for the poor countries and to abolish child labour."

These three young children have translated the ideology of BBA that true and sustainable change is possible when the exploited themselves become change makers, into practice.