Blue Dragon works in some dark places. Day to day, we deal with kids being exploited and abused... teens being deceived and abducted... and the often-awful people who make a 'living' out of hurting others.
But sometimes, we stumble across beautiful people and situations, taking us by surprise.
This morning I was riding through Hanoi with Vi, who leads Blue Dragon's Outreach work to street kids. We were on our way to solve a problem (as is the nature of our work!) when we both spotted something happening by the side of the road.
Two boys, who we guessed were runaway boys from the countryside by their appearance and their back packs, were talking to three professional-looking women across from a bank. It looked just a little odd.
So we pulled over to see what was going on.
The women worked in the bank, and one of them, named Ha, had somehow spotted these two boys and realised that they were hungry and homeless. At the time we saw them, the women were about to take the boys for a meal and see how they could help.
Naturally, the women were very cautious about letting Vi and I in to the conversation: they were being protective of the boys and were worried that we might have bad intentions. But when we introduced ourselves as being from Blue Dragon, the women immediately knew us. Ha had volunteered with us a few years ago, so was thrilled that we had turned up and was glad for the boys to return to Dragon House for a meal.
Hanoi is not a friendly city for street kids. There are many dangers and traps that innocent kids from the countryside know nothing about. But today I was touched to see three young women looking out for the kids, and prepared to go out of their way to ensure some kids were safe.
For all the bad in our world, there are also some great people out there.
... and an update on this story: On investigation, the boys did NOT run away from home; they were invited to the city by someone offering a job in a cafe, but once they arrived it was clear that they were much too young to be working. The boys were very happy to go home, so we contacted their families and put them on the bus back to their village with food in their bellies and some new clothes.
But sometimes, we stumble across beautiful people and situations, taking us by surprise.
This morning I was riding through Hanoi with Vi, who leads Blue Dragon's Outreach work to street kids. We were on our way to solve a problem (as is the nature of our work!) when we both spotted something happening by the side of the road.
Two boys, who we guessed were runaway boys from the countryside by their appearance and their back packs, were talking to three professional-looking women across from a bank. It looked just a little odd.
So we pulled over to see what was going on.
The women worked in the bank, and one of them, named Ha, had somehow spotted these two boys and realised that they were hungry and homeless. At the time we saw them, the women were about to take the boys for a meal and see how they could help.
Naturally, the women were very cautious about letting Vi and I in to the conversation: they were being protective of the boys and were worried that we might have bad intentions. But when we introduced ourselves as being from Blue Dragon, the women immediately knew us. Ha had volunteered with us a few years ago, so was thrilled that we had turned up and was glad for the boys to return to Dragon House for a meal.
Hanoi is not a friendly city for street kids. There are many dangers and traps that innocent kids from the countryside know nothing about. But today I was touched to see three young women looking out for the kids, and prepared to go out of their way to ensure some kids were safe.
For all the bad in our world, there are also some great people out there.
... and an update on this story: On investigation, the boys did NOT run away from home; they were invited to the city by someone offering a job in a cafe, but once they arrived it was clear that they were much too young to be working. The boys were very happy to go home, so we contacted their families and put them on the bus back to their village with food in their bellies and some new clothes.
2 comments:
The 'good work' spreads. So happy you got to see the fruit of your labors. Terrific! Ken Darling - Da Nang.
If you need some help with deaf people I have some sign language. I'm in Hanoi
Post a Comment