Like each year, this February and March hundreds of children, aged 5 to 14, will appear at the gates of Buddhist monasteries in Bhutan. Some of them will repeatedly come back to beg for admission to monasteries. Once they secure a place, they will put on monks' robes and soon, on a day indicated by an astrologist, take monastic vows.

Today's child monks are continuing a nearly 500-year historic tradition which puts all Bhutanese families under an obligation to dedicate one of their sons to be a monk. Even until the 1970s this path created the only chance to obtain formal education and advance socially. The accelerating modernisation of the country in recent years has changed this image. Within no more than one decade, the traditional and isolated Bhutanese society has experienced all the opportunities and threats of global civilization of the 21st century.

Those who fall prey to such modernisation are the weakest, the most vulnerable and the most susceptible to becoming social outcasts – children from areas of poverty and disintegrating social relationships. Lack of formal marriage bonds is common in Bhutan. Families easily falling apart, together with disintegration of traditional family communities due to rural-urban migration, cause a dramatic increase of 'social orphans' numbers.

Institutions such as orphanages, adoption centres or foster homes do not exist in Bhutan. Children in need may only find shelter in Buddhist monasteries, which become orphanages of the last hope. Abandoned children become 'children of Buddha.'