Boys Without Names

Boys Without Names

If you receive a lot of the same Internet newsletters and
magazines I do you are learning that many consumer items are crafted
through the blood, sweat, and tears of child slaves in third world
nations. Some are lured by promises of jobs that will help their
impoverished families. Others are handed over by parents who are told
this is the only way to get out of escalating debt. These young
children who should be attending school become part of an underground
world where they are isolated, underfed, overworked, and harshly
punished. Kashmira Sheth's Boys Without Names really helps put a
human face on this tragedy.
In India Gopal and his family have lost their farm. Falling
into ever deeper debt, they decide that their only option is to move
to the large city of Mumbai to live with a fairly prosperous
relative. The trip is arduous. The family must sleep on streets and
under a bridge. The father vanishes.
In Mumbai, with his father still missing, Gopal is desperate to
reunite his family. Offered a job in a factory, he is drugged and
wakes up in a sweatshop. He joins a group of boys who must work long
hours making beaded frames for meager rations. They are not allowed
to talk or use their names. Infractions are punished by beatings and
food deprivation.
Gopal is desperate to get back to his family. But he becomes
emotionally attached to the other boys who share his fate. If only he
can find a way to unite them...
This very poignant children's book carries a very important
message for us all. We must know where the goods we purchase come
from and insist that they are produced in ethical and humane ways.
On a personal note, fall foliage season is peaking in central Maine.
Combine that with the warmth of indian summer and you get a little bit
of paradise on earth.
A great big shout out goes put to the fine people who rescue child
slaves.
Julia Emily Hathaway




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