Little Princes,
by Conor Grennan, HarperCollins, $36.99
After a decade working in international public policy, American Conor Grennan decides to take a year off to explore the world. To legitimise his trip, he begins his travels with a three-month stint volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal.
What Conor doesn't bargain for is
that those three months will alter the course of his life.
Child-trafficking is a huge problem in Nepal as a result of years of fighting between the Maoist rebel army and royal troops. The Maoist army bases itself in inaccessible strongholds in the Himalayas. There, it recruits children to its cause at gunpoint.
Into this situation come child-traffickers, who prey on families' fears of this happening to their children. In exchange for large amounts of money, they offer to take children to safe homes in Kathmandu where they will be sent to school and be well-looked after. Instead, the children are dumped on the streets, used as domestic slaves or exploited to get cash from tourists.
There are thousands of these "orphans" in Kathmandu. The lucky ones are those rescued by international agencies and housed in orphanages like the Little Princes, where Conor first volunteers. His initial three-month stay turns into an ongoing mission to bring home the lost children of Nepal.
This is a book that will make you laugh and cry, and will open your eyes to the harsh realities faced by Nepal's people.
