Thursday, June 11, 2009

It's just a small thing, but...

The pictures below were taken about a week ago in a small village in Hue. They don't look so impressive, do they? But there is a story behind them...




What you're looking at are slogans displayed on banners, hanging on a very long fence. Each of the slogans says something different, but all are urging the people to take care of poor children... and to resist pressure from child traffickers.

The truly remarkable thing, though, is that these banners are hanging in a village where, 4 years ago, Blue Dragon staff faced arrest for merely suggesting that there might be a problem with child trafficking. Our concerns were met with outright denial: "No children from this village have gone to work in the south..."

But how things have changed! The local government has declared a month of action to support poor children, and at the top of its list of concerns is children being taken by traffickers.

This is one village where things are really getting better for children. I know it's just a small example of improvement, but this was completely unthinkable just a few years ago...


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1 comment:

Terynn said...

I am thrilled for your progress in the area of increasing awareness of and resistance to child traffickers! This should be celebrated and rightfully so!

Bravo!! Keep up the good work!