MAHATMA GANDHI: “IN A GENTLE WAY, YOU CAN SHAKE THE WORLD.”

HewasborninPorbandar,India,in1869.Hespentpartofhislifeabroadbefore returning to India.Hewasa lawyer.Hebecame the leader of the Indian Nationalist Movementagainst British rule and and professed his belief in a non-violent protest against the British, based on boycotts andcivil disobedience. His idea of a peaceful non-cooperationwiththeBritishwassoinfluentialthatitledtoanegotiationwith them. This resulted in the birth of two independentstates: India and Pakistan, free from the British Empire.Gandhiwaskilledin1948.

IQBAL MASIH: "CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE PENS IN THEIR HANDS NOT TOOLS.”

HewasborninMuridke,Pakistan,in1982.Heisfamousforhisstruggle against bonded labour. In fact he was sold intoslavery to pay a debt and forced to work 14 hours a daychainedtoacarpetloomsincehewas4.Buthemanagedtoescape and joined the Bonded Labour Liberation Frontfighting against bonded labour and the enslaving ofchildren.Hestartedtravelingandcampaigningtohelpfreeother illegally bonded children. In 1994 he received theRebok Human Rights Award for his commitment, but hewasassassinatedonEasterSundayin1995.

BILLIE JEAN KING:  “I wanted to use sports for social change.”

BillieJeanKingwasanAmericantennisplayerinthe1960sand1970s.Themostimportant tennis tournaments in the world are the Australian Open, theFrenchOpen,WimbledonandtheUSOpen.Together,thesetournamentsarecalled“TheGrandSlam”.Inhercareer,Kingwonanamazing39GrandSlamTournaments,includingWimbledononsixoccasions.

Kingdidalottohelpwomeninsport.Inthe1970s,shecampaignedforwomentohavethesameopportunities(thesamepay)asmen.In1973,BobbyRiggs,a retired male tennis champion, challenged King to a tennis match. Riggsdidn’tthinkthatawomencouldeverwinatennismatchagainstaman.Thisfamousmatchbecameknownasthe“BattlefotheSexes”.IthadthebiggestTV audience ever for a tennis match: about 50 million people in the USAwatched it.KingquicklyandeasilybeatRiggs. In thesameyearshestartedtheWomen’s Tennis Association. Then in 2006, theNational Tennis Center(thehomeof theUSOpen)was re-named “Billie JeanKingNational TennisCenter”.Kingchangedmanypeople’sideasaboutwomeninsport.

NELSON MANDELA: “AS I WALKED OUT THE DOOR TOWARD THE GATE THAT WOULD LEAD TO MY FREEDOM, I KNEW IF I DIDN’T LEAVE MY BITTERNESS AND HATRED BEHIND, I’D STILL BE IN PRISON.”

Born in Tranksei, South Africa, in 1918, he spent 27 years in prisonbeforebecominghis country’s firstblackpresident. In fact,hewassentenced to life imprisonment because of his involvement in theAfrican National Congress, a movement struggling to change theapartheid regime inSouthAfrica.Apartheidwasa systemof racialsegregationimplementedbythegovernmentthatdidn’tallowblackpeopletohavethesamerightsaswhitepeople.Hespent27yearsatRobbenIslandprison.Then,internationalpressureledtothereleaseofMandelain1990.HewasawardedtheNobelPeacePrizein1993.In the 1994 elections, black south Africans could vote for the firsttime. They chose Nelson Mandela as their country’s first blackpresident.Mandeladidn’twant revenge for theyearsofapartheidandinjustice.HeaskedallSouthAfricanstoworktogetherinpeace.Hediedin2013,andtodayhe’saninspirationtopeopleallaroundtheworldforhiscourageandforgiveness.

MARTIN LUTHER KING: “WE KNOW THROUGH PAINFUL EXPERIENCE THAT FREEDOM IS NEVER VOLUNTARILY GIVEN BY THE OPPRESSOR, IT MUST BE DEMANDED BY THE OPPRESSED.”

HewasborninAtlanta,USA,in1929.Atthattimeblackpeopledidnothavethesamerightsaswhitepeople.Theycouldnotgotothe same schools and could only sit at the back on buses. Heorganizedabusboycottandledapeacefulprotestagainstracialdiscrimination. Thus he became a leader of the Civil RightsMovement,thankstowhichsegregationonbuseswasdeclaredillegal.Hewas awarded theNobel PeacePrize in 1964, but hewasassassinated4yearslaterduringavisittoMemphis.

ASIA BIBI: "THEY SAID CHANGE YOUR FAITH, AND YOU'LL BE FREED. BUT I SAID NO. I WILL LIVE MY SENTENCE. WITH MY FAITH."

AsiaBibiwasbornin1971inaruralvillageofPakistan.She’sCatholicwhileinPakistan themajorityof thepopulation isMuslim. In June2009,AsiawasaccusedofblasphemyagainstprophetMuhammadafteranargumentwithco-workers while she was harvesting berries. She was subsequentlyarrestedandimprisoned.In2010shereceivedthedeathpenalty.

InPakistan,Christianpeoplearen’ttotallyfreetoprofesstheirreligionandcanbeaccusedofblasphemyiftheydon’taccepttheMuslimreligion.

Asia’sfamilyhasreceivedmanythreats.Herhusbandsaidthathewasafraidtolet their children go outside. Two Pakistani politicians were killed forpublicly supporting her and criticising the country’s blasphemy laws. Shewon the support of Pope Francis and Christian organisations around theworld. After many years of appeals refused by the court, Asia Bibi wasreleasedin2019,andnowshelivesinCanada.

MOTHER TERESA: “THE MOST TERRIBLE POVERTY IS LONELINESS, AND THE FEELING OF BEING UNLOVED”

Mother TeresawasaCatholicnunwhohelpedthepoor,thesick,andthedyinginIndiaandaroundtheworld.

Shewas born in 1910, inwhat is nowMacedonia. At age 18, she joined the Sisters of Loreto, aCatholicorder inDublin, Ireland, tobecomeanun.TheSistersalsodidcharitywork in India.Twoyearslater,in1930,theysenthertoCalcuttatoteachinahighschool.

Whenshetookherfinalreligiousvowsin1937,shetookthename“Teresa”inhonorofSt.TeresaofLisieux.

In 1948, she started her own religious order. She called it the Missionaries of Charity. It wasdedicatedtohelpingCalcutta’spoorestpeople.

By the 1960s,Mother Teresa andher nuns had set up orphanages for children, hospices for thedying,andhomesforthosewithleprosyalloverIndia.In1965,theybegantoopenmissionsinothercountries,includingtheUnitedStates.

Mother Teresa received several international awards for her charity work, including the NobelPeacePrizein1979.RichandfamouspeopleoftencametoCalcuttatomeether.Sheremainedahumble,simplepersonwhoalwaysworeaplainwhitesariwithablueborder.

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997. The government of India honored her with a statefuneral. InOctober2003,PopeJohnPaul IInamedher“BlessedMotherTeresa.”TheCatholicChurchdeclaredMotherTeresaasaintin2016.