Paradise for some

Hue, in central Vietnam, is a beautiful place. Hue City was once the capital city of Vietnam, and so is a goldmine of history - tombs, citadels, statues, the lot.

Outside the city, Hue's countryside is idyllic, from the mountain jungles to the white sand beaches.

Every time I visit Hue, and go to see the families supported by Blue Dragon, I am struck by the beauty of where they live. Their homes line the beaches, looking out over the ocean: I often think that a plot of land in a similar spot outside Sydney, or California, would have a price tag starting in the millions.

But these families are not 'real estate rich.' They live where they do because nobody else wants to live there, in the face of typhoons, far from basic services like fresh water and electricity. Their homes face the beach not for the view, but because the water is their sole source of livelihood: fish. Fathers and sons spend 2 weeks at a time out on boats hauling fish. The pay is meager and the dangers many.

The reason Blue Dragon works there is that many families make so little money, they must let traffickers take their children to work in factories just to be sure the family has enough to eat.

In the past 10 days, we've received many requests from the families in Hue for some extra food. Right now, the weather is bad, the fish aren't biting, and families are starting to go hungry. We need to get them some rice!

This is just a short term fix - we have 20 families needing rice for 3 months. The total bill will come to 14,000,000 VND - that's about $835 US, or $1,250 AUD. Twenty families will be fed for 3 months!

If you can help, please email me directly - bluedragon@bdcf.org.

It's hard to imagine in today's world that anybody needs to go hungry. How can it be?


Updates:
Thursday: Alison from ACCV has pledged $400AUD to help - that's enough for about 6 families. Big electronic hugs, Alison!
Friday: Steve - a.k.a Our Man has pledged 50 GBP, and I can't find the "pounds" symbol on my keyboard. Thank you Steve.
Friday again: $100AUD from Rachel Welch. Thanks - we're about half way there!
Tuesday: Vo Minh has donated another $300 US.... so the pressure is off now.

Thanks everyone!!

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