Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Off the Streets, Back to School

Today Blue Dragon celebrated a momentous occasion in the life of a street kid: the return to school.

Quy has been shining shoes in Hanoi for more than two years; he left home in his native village after his father died and his mother could no longer afford to support him.

Life on the streets has been hazardous, but Quy's journey finally brought him to the Blue Dragon soccer team, Real Betis Vietnam. This is our outreach program, and Quy's own story testifies to its success.

It's been just one month since we first met Quy at the soccer, but now his life as a street kid is over. He's now a school kid!

Quy is 16 years old, but has only studied up to Grade 6 level. Here in Hanoi, there are some special schools to accommodate young people like Quy: streamlined courses for people of literally any age to continue their education. So even though he's much older than the regular sixth grader, he fits right in at his new school.

Today is a great day for Quy, marking a new start in life. But Blue Dragon's work does not end here: it just begins. I hope that future posts can comment on Quy's progress... maybe even up to university!

This is Quy, back at the Blue Dragon center after his first day at school.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found this blog through OMIH's page, and already I'm hooked. It's amazing to see the work you do, and to see the kids smiling like that. Excellent :)

Anonymous said...

Real Betis is probably the best team in the world, the best team in solidarity, the biggest team in Spain in number of supporters because everybody loves Real Betis like a second heart team. And now more.... www.realbetisbalompie.es
Viva el Betis Vietnam!!