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“I used to be a jewellery lady, with lots of designer purses,” says Shamim Rajan, the mother of a 12-year-old activist named Bilaal Rajan of Richmond Hill, Ont. Then one day her son reminded her about the world’s starving children while they were out shopping.
Bilaal was four years old when, horrified by a news story about an earthquake in India, he decided to help. Almost overnight, Mrs. Rajan says, she was fielding calls from journalists interested in the boy who cites Gandhi and the Aga Khan as his heroes. Today, he is a Unicef Canada children’s ambassador, book author and motivational speaker. He has raised nearly $5-million for causes that range from helping victims of hurricane-ravaged Haiti to supporting children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
His mother, a part-time pharmacist, is so busy managing his schedule that she rarely gets to bed before midnight.
… Once, the Rajans turned off their phones and Internet for two days so Bilaal could simply play with his friends.
Mrs. Rajan, who acts as her son’s manager, has limited him to one engagement per week. He’s booked until January, 2010. “Right now, it seems okay,” Mrs. Rajan says. “But when you look back, you say, `Oh my God, how many 12 year-olds want to do this?'”
Ismailimail 