Monday, November 24, 2008

Through the lens

A British photographer, Darren Zlatareff, is visiting Blue Dragon and has started a project with some of our kids... check out their progress here: http://bluedragonphotoproject.blogspot.com/

There are some really cool photos up already, and more will be added as time goes on.


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Friday, November 14, 2008

Says it all

Another day at the Blue Dragon centre...




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Monday, November 10, 2008

Tight fit

This is one of those very Hanoian moments when all you can do is laugh...

Check out the pictures here of a truck that really, really wanted to pass under the Long Bien bridge: http://www.tinmoi.vn/index.php/tinmoi/cau-long-bien-bi-xe-container-dam-ldquo-trong-thuong-rdquo/69491.sn

Long Bien bridge is a city icon - and something of an icon for Blue Dragon, too. Most of our kids are from the area around the bridge; we play football within sight of it; and many kids we meet live on or under the bridge.

Of course, if people keep doing this kind of thing, we might be looking for a new icon.


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If you're in Hanoi...



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Friday, November 07, 2008

When the river runs dry...

Hanoi is still recovering from last week's floods; there are still many homes under water and some Blue Dragon kids and staff are living without electricity or clean water. Dire predictions of more heavy rain keep coming... let's hope not! Some more pics here to give you the idea.

The Red River is very high, of course, and the families who live on boats along the river banks are really doing it tough. But in the centre of the river is an island, where many families live in tents and shacks. With the island now mostly submerged, all of these people have had to find other places to stay - and most have ended up staying on boats with friends.

A few families have moved in to Blue Dragon homes just until the waters subside; it's much too dangerous for families with young kids to be staying on the boats at the moment.

So for this weekend, the city is holding its breath in anticipation of more rain, and meanwhile we await the floods to abate and the river to return to normal...


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Monday, November 03, 2008

Hanoi, Venice of the East

One of the strangest weekends we've had in a while...

If you haven't been trapped in a car or on a motorbike for 6 hours with water up to your stomach, then you're not really in Hanoi!

You don't need to understand Vietnamese to get the gist of this:

http://vnexpress.net/GL/Xa-hoi/2008/11/3BA08030/


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