Grennan connects with Anna Howe, an American who has lived in Nepal for 15 years. She has traveled to Humla, the district where all the children originally grew up and can help Grennan with his plans to reunite the families. Grennan wants to locate the parents of the 18 children living at Little Princes and the 6 children currently residing at NGN’s Dhaulagiri House. Locating the parents means taking a long, dangerous journey outside of Kathmandu Valley into the district of Humla, a mountainous region without many roads, airports, or telephones.

Howe connects Grennan with a Humla man named D.B., who is working on behalf of another organization to locate families. D.B. and Grennan decide to team up on their journey through Humla. Grennan and D.B. put together an eight-man team, including porters who will help carry their supplies and navigate. Two of the men, D.B. and Rinjin, speak English and are able to translate for Grennan.

During Grennan’s preparation to journey into Humla, he continues to correspond many times a day with Liz. Although they have never seen each other in person or spoken on the phone, Grennan is aware that he is developing strong feelings for her.