When I was just a small boy, I was sitting in a South African ghetto township, maybe thinking that I didn't count for too much. But I soon learned that each one of us is a glorious original and has the capacity to be God's special partner. At a tender age I discovered that it isn't doing spectacular things that makes you remarkable in the eyes of God, but instead, it is when you light just one candle to dispel a little bit of darkness that you are doing something tremendous. And if, as a global people, we put all the little bits of good together, we will overwhelm the world. In my young life, there were many key individuals and moments that embodied the spirit for me…

As a child I had tuberculosis and went to the hospital for nearly two years. During that time, about once a week, Trevor Huddleston, a priest who became a renowned anti-apartheid activist, came to see me. He lived in Sophiatown as a member of a religious community, and he shared the life of the poor and deprived people. I wasn't aware of it then, but his actions made a strong impression on me. In South Africa, it was unusual to see a white person caring for a black township urchin like myself, and his example contributed to a lack of bitterness I felt against whites. Trevor touched my life and I'm so very grateful, because he was a tremendous champion of goodness and the dispossessed. Through small examples of humanity, he cared for others and for me; he was one of the first strong examples for me of someone working those little bits of goodness.

-Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and honorary member of the Free The Children Board of Directors