Kailash Satyarthi

Never before has our world been so wealthy, well-informed and technologically advanced. Yet we are facing an unprecedented crisis: humanity is plagued by conflict, inequality and indifference. It is imperative, therefore, that we rethink our approach to life and society, and that we do so now. The answer lies in karuna, compassion. Compassion is not a soft emotion but a powerful force for transformation.

The work of rescuing children from slavery is not for the faint of heart, as thetwelve gut-wrenching accounts in this book will show. Harder still is to givethem their life back, after they've been kidnapped, trafficked, sold, abused andmade to work in horrific conditions, often for as long as they can remember.Pradeep was offered up for human sacrifice by his family, thought to be a badomen; Devli was a third-generation slave in a stone quarry in Haryana, whohad never seen a banana before her rescue; Ashraf, a domestic child labourerat a senior civil servant's house, was starved and scalded as punishment;Sahiba was trafficked from Assam to be someone's wife against her will; Kaluwas abducted and made to weave carpets all day long, his injuries cauterizedwith phosphorus scraped off matchsticks; Bhavna was trapped in a circus, sexually abused for years by her owners; Rakesh was worked in the fields allyear round like cattle, and spent the nights locked up with them in the stable;Sabo was born to labourers at a brick kiln, and never knew life outside it; andManan lived his childhood mining mica in the forests of Jharkhand, barelygiven time to even mourn his friend who got buried when the mine caved in.Kailash Satyarthi's own life and mission were entwined with the journeysof these children. Having lived through unspeakable trauma, they had lostfaith in humanity. But behind their reticence, behind their scraggy limbs andcalloused hands and feet, hope still endured. This book tells the story of theirshared struggle for justice and dignity-from the raid and rescue operationsof Satyarthi's Bachpan Bachao Andolan, to international campaigns for childrights. It is a testament both to the courage of the human spirit and to thepower of compassion.

Foreword by Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize for Economics, 1998) Afterword by Kailash Satyarthi (Nobel Peace Prize, 2014)In 2005, Nick Danziger began to create an archive of photographs documenting the lives of women and children in eight of the world's poorest countries. He returned five years later, and again in 2015. Had the United Nation’s millennium development goals made a difference to their lives?The stories he tells – in pictures and words – are unforgettable and have created a unique document, one that reveals the uncomfortable truths of a globalised planet. It is full of hope, sadness, pain, anger and beauty.Some of the women and children Nick followed died through sickness and poverty. One has become the most successful entrepreneur her African border town has ever known. Another – who once dreamed of becoming a banker – is now a gang member in the world’s murder capital. Yet another has confronted conformists and successfully changed his gender.The book will stand as a permanent record of their courage and humanity, but also as a reminder that much work still needs to be done if these goals are ever to be met. Too many people in India, Cambodia, Zambia, Uganda, Niger, Honduras, Bolivia and Armenia are still living in extreme poverty, without access to the health and education the goals were supposed to deliver.

This book offers the guidance and teachings of Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi. He has waged a peaceful struggle to stop children from being exploited as labour instead of being sent to school. The power of simplicity and humility in his messages has transformed the lives of millions of children. What he achieved through a single-minded devotion to the cause is testimony of how people can make a difference through seemingly small actions. What Satyarthi has been saying for the last thirty-six years are not merely words confined to the cause of children; in fact they represent the voice of freedom, anger, compassion and humanity. Words have the power to provoke, inspire and transform. Perhaps these can inspire the readers to work towards a more meaningful life...because words matter.