Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Spotlight

This week has certainly ended on a high note, with Blue Dragon's work being featured on CNN:

CNNHeroes.com

We haven't received a great deal of media attention until now, so it's quite exciting for our team to watch how people respond. So far we've been stunned by the outpouring of support from people around the world, and in particular people of Vietnamese origin living in other countries. (Thank you!)

I was in Ho Chi Minh City when the story broke, and a few hours later I caught up with a boy named Vu who I met living on the streets over a year ago but who now lives in a shelter and goes to school. He had no idea of why I needed to answer 50 emails - he clearly hasn't been watching CNN! - and really just wanted to go out for a sinh to (fruit shake). So the emails had to wait a while.

Although much of the focus of the story is on my own role in establishing and running Blue Dragon, the spotlight really needs to be shared with those people who have worked alongside me over these years: the volunteers, the staff, the donors, and all those who have made a contribution along the way.

And then, of course, there's the kids, who give meaning to what we do. Kids like Vu. Without them we're nothing.

7 comments:

JH said...

yayayayayay! I know you deerved to be CNN Hero of the year :). You are probably one of my greatest inspiration to date! :)

Sophia said...

i've known your organization for a couple of months. I so far have admired your work and appreciated what u have done for Vietnamese kids. There was once time i came to Hoian and such a coincidence i saw the donnation box of BLUE DRAGON and I was so happy to make a small contribution to that. Hope your org. help more kids in Vietnam. Thanks a lot

Anonymous said...

You're a true inspiration, Michael.

Audra H. said...

Michael- I plan to pass along info about your organization to Vietnamese friends here in Houston, Texas. Maybe they will consider helping Blue Dragon too! I hope the CNN Hero's story really gets you some attention.

Audra H. said...

Michael- I plan to pass along info about your organization to Vietnamese friends here in Houston, Texas. Maybe they will consider helping Blue Dragon too! I hope the CNN Heros pieces really gets you some attention.

Loan Le said...

A wonderful article on CNN!

I'm going to Vietnam for a month. Will mostly be in Nha Trang. If I can do anything to help Blue Dragon, let me know.

Anonymous said...

Much more success to your organization! May the gates of support open wide and may you and everyone involved continue to keep making a difference in these kids lives! God bless you :-)