Starting in central Vietnam, Blue Dragon has just 'officially' opened a new house for a family whose 14 year old son was trafficked to a garment factory but returned home with our help late last year.
I first wrote about this family last year (see this entry here - the family in question is in the 2nd photo). They've gone from a tent to living in the house pictured below... and both of the kids are now studying again. A great result. And I must say a BIG thanks to the Australia / New Zealand Community Group in Hanoi who funded this.
Back in Hanoi, the United Nations International School (UNIS) has allowed us to use their swimming pool for therapy with our disabled kids. Our staff, Phuong, is pictured below with one of the children who has cerebral palsy. (Thank you, UNIS).
And while I'm saying thanks, I should also mention our volunteer Issy who has been doing the most amazing therapy work with several of the Blue Dragon children. That's her below. If only we could keep her with us forever...
In northern Bac Ninh province, where Blue Dragon already supports about 350 school students, we've now made a commitment to extend our work to at least 70 more children in another very poor area of the countryside. I went to meet the principal of one of the schools on Friday, and we went about meeting some families who are really in need of help, fast. In some cases, young teens were living in the care of very elderly grandparents who were struggling to put enough food on the table. Some terribly sad cases.
Given the state of the world's economy, expanding our work to a new area might not be the obvious thing to do - but how could we say no to these kids?
Finally, over the weekend we had a visit from a wonderful group of students at the Hanoi Music Conservatorium. As some of our staff and kids alike are really into music, we decided to throw together a 'music gala' for the children - including a stringed quartet, a drummer, a couple of guitarists and a flautist. What a brilliant Sunday morning it turned out to be! About 15 of our children joined in, with plenty of chances to participate throughout the event.
It's kinda nice having so much good news to report...
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1 comment:
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