Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan

Again, the Anthropologist in me picked a book relating to another culture.

Conor had relatively accomplished quite a lot for a 29 year old. After graduating college he worked in Prague and Brussels, but after eight years he felt he needed to take a break, to do something cool and fun. Conor decided to seize a year of his life and youth and voyage the globe but he felt that he also needed to justify the trip so he decided to spend three months doing something for the good of mankind, eventually deciding to work with orphans in Nepal. Conor had read reports of civil unrest but he felt they were dramatized. Conor was at first disappointed in his choice of his volunteerism but eventually he had became completely fascinated by the children and their difficulties.

Nepal had civil hostilities for almost a decade; their own regime was rampant with dishonesty and unable to defend their people from the guerrillas who roamed the country. Families struggled to care for their family for even basic necessities, and to keep them from being snatched by the guerrillas to become part of the militia. Families became do desperate they fell prey to child traffickers who promised to care for the children and give them not only basic needs but also education needed  to become successful. The families paid hefty sums to make certain of their children's protection, not realizing that the traffickers took the children into Katmandu where they were sent out to beg in the streets or were sold into slavery. When it came time for Conor to leave for the fun part of his adventure he could not get the images of the children out of his mind. Despite the worsening political state of affairs Conor knew he had to return to Nepal to try and help the children.

This is an stirring story, one that is well written with Conor's wry sense of humor added. The story is about a young man learning about himself and what is truly essential in life.

I rate this book five stars !!