Another birthday blog

This is the third time I've written about birthdays in the last couple of weeks... but too many celebrations can't be enough!

Back in March, I wrote about a boy named Phuong who I met on the streets of Hanoi: see the original post here. He had run away from home some months before and was living and working in the Old Quarter. He was a very bright kid, and his parents were most thankful when our lawyer Van took him home. Tuesday this week was Phuong's 14th birthday, so Van made the journey to Phuong's home (a few hours' drive out of the city) to catch up.

Phuong will return to school in September - he ran away from home during Grade 8, so has to repeat the whole year. But he's happy about this, and all his neighbours and friends are still excited to have him back.

Phuong's family threw a party to celebrate his birthday (and the fact that Van was coming). It was a very nice confirmation that the little guy is much loved and wanted by his family and community.

The Big Room turns 5

Today was a very special anniversary for Blue Dragon: the Big Room turned 5 years old!

The Big Room is the first residential home that we started, back in 2003. Blue Dragon wasn't even officially a recognised organisation then. We had no money, no staff, and no legal status, but we did have a group of kids who wanted to get off the streets and go back to school. So we took the plunge and rented a house.

The home started off with 6 teenage boys, all kids who I had met on the streets shining shoes. We employed one of their mothers to supervise and care for them, and also recruited a team of volunteers to teach English and run educational activities. Our budget for the first year was a whopping $5000! This was donated to us by some expatriate women who hardly knew us, but believed that we were trying to do the right thing. (Thanks, Chantelle and Danielle!)

Five years on... the kids aren't kids any more! There has been a lot of movement in and out of the house, as some kids have moved out and others have moved in. All residents now are 18 or over, and have good jobs - some in fine restaurants, and one even works at Blue Dragon. The Big Room gives them a much better home than they could otherwise have, while allowing them to save money so that they can move out eventually and have homes of their own.

Of course, over the years there have been many dramas and comedies at the Big Room. A broken arm... frightening visits from the police... and the now-infamous "beer on a string" incident (but you had to be there to understand it). In 2004, the German Embassy paid for an upgrade for the building, although in 2006 a project in a neighbouring school funded by Plan International completely blocked all natural light from entering the house. Grrr.... But anyway, over the years we've watched the kids become young adults and take their place in society.

Today's celebration was a chance to acknowledge the exceptional successes of a small group of street kids who took their destinies into their own hands. We're proud of ya, guys!

Moving in: June 2, 2003

Past and present residents - plus a few friends - celebrate the 5th anniversary

... and how could we have a party without a cake!?

World's happiest cartoonist

We had a special treat this weekend: Peter Draw, the "world's happiest cartoonist", visited from Singapore. Peter and his crew, Herman and Damien, spent Sunday afternoon at the Blue Dragon center sketching and playing with a group of our kids.

Peter taught the kids some simple cartooning techniques, but he also had them laughing and smiling, and really enjoying themselves. Peter's visit was organised by World Vision Singapore - big thanks to everyone involved!

Peter with a sketch of one of our girls

The kids have a go at drawing...

Some finished products

The end is nigh

The end of the school year is almost upon us! Many Blue Dragon kids have already started their summer break. Woo hoo!

Last weekend, I headed out with a few of the staff and a group of about 8 kids to Bac Ninh province, a beautiful rural area not far from Hanoi where Blue Dragon supports 350 students to go to school.

Our gathering was not simply to celebrate the end of the school year; it was also to celebrate the fact that these kids have persevered with their studies, despite terrible difficulties in their lives. Many have done really well at school, but that's not even the main point: the fact that they have made a commitment to study, and followed it through, was the key theme of the day. We were very proud to be awarding certificates to 18 students who had graduated from Year 12 - what an achievement!

As always, a picture tells...

Here's the crowd, with teachers and officials at the front.

Some of the Year 12 students receiving an award for completing their studies.

Down in the crowd... the kids with the groovy hair are former street kids from Hanoi who came to help out as community service.

One of the Hanoi teens handing out gifts to the kids. Each bag contains items donated by Unilever Vietnam - shampoo, tootpaste, cleaning products, and a toothbrush. Worth a small fortune to these families.

A fruit snack before the kids head home. Man, did that fruit disappear quickly.

In coming days, all of the kids will be on holidays, and then we can turn our attention to the next challenge: how to make sure these kids, and others, can stay in school for another year.

Happy first birthday

Blue Dragon has a lot of birthdays to celebrate in the month of May!

Last week, two boys who both happen to live in our residences had a birthday on the same day. Hieu turned 15 and Cuong turned 17. So as is our custom, we threw a party (two parties, in fact) to celebrate.

What was really special, though, was that neither of these kids had ever had a birthday party before.

It's hard to imagine growing up without ever receiving gifts and singing the Happy Birthday song... Such a small event in the course of world events, and yet so important to these terrific young guys.

Where the streets have no shame

It's true, I tell you...

http://www.thanhniennews.com/features/?catid=10&newsid=38556

The more feather boas, butterflies, tinsel, electrical devices and umbrellas on your bike, the cooler you are.

Imagine the chaos when it rains...

Two shots a day

Last time I was in Hue, my colleague Van and I had a task to complete that ranks up there as among the most difficult things we've had to do.

We wanted to interview Chau, the 17 year old boy who is dying of cancer in his family home by the beach. Chau had been taken to Ho Chi Minh City to work in a garment factory in appalling conditions at the age of 14. He started to get ill a year later, and without any medical attention he was eventually far too sick to work any more. The boss sent him home, which is when we met him and found that he had advanced cancer. I've written about Chau here and here if you want more of the story.

Time is dwindling away now; pain management is all that's left for this boy and his family. After talking to his parents, Van and I decided to interview Chau on video to create a permanent record of what he has been through. He has something to say, so we gave him the chance to be heard.

As we spoke to Chau about his childhood, life in the village, and his time in the factory, we had to keep taking breaks as pain swept through his bones, then subsided long enough to let him talk. I couldn't help but feel like some kind of monster as I pressed Chau for information, asked for more detail, and then waited for him to be able to speak. I don't know how journos can do their job in situations like that.

The purpose of documenting Chau's pain is not just about keeping a record of events. Chau needs an advocate - someone to stand up for him when he cannot stand up for himself. He's been mistreated, and at the very least someone should listen to him.

There was also a very practical outcome of our interview. In this day of modern medicine, nobody needs to be in such pain. For some reason, though, the doctor overseeing his case had prescribed just two shots of morpheine per week. The afternoon that we interviewed Chau, he'd had one of his twice-weekly shots, and was already in agony again just hours later.

It doesn't take a medical degree to see that Chau needed serious relief - but convincing the doctor of that wasn't easy. It took some weeks. But now Chau has been prescribed two shots a day, which has helped enormously to reduce the pain.

Hand in hand with pain relief, of course, comes the morpheine haze and various uncomfortable side effects. Chau's mother and father wait on their son around the clock, massaging him when the pain comes and sitting by his side when they don't know what else to do. We bought the family a TV and DVD player just so that they'd all have something to take their minds off the relentless misery that they are living in.

Such a waste of a valuable life. I know our world is imperfect, but sometimes it's very hard to accept.

Ngoc, Ngoc, and Ngoc

Time for an update on some Blue Dragon kids who I've blogged about in the past...

Ngoc the First

Our "first Ngoc" came to us in late 2005 (see here for the first story); we had rescued Ngoc from child traffickers and, at age 13, sent him to school for the first time in his life. Ngoc's a bright kid - he took to school easily (although he certainly isn't passionate about academics!) and quickly mastered his lessons. Over the last couple of years he has been living in our residence, and growing taller every day... He's about as tall as me now, and he stands head and shoulders over most of our staff! (Brown rice is the secret - I swear it makes a difference).

As the school year draws to an end, Ngoc is doing his Grade 4 exams and planning to head home to Hue for the summer. In September, he'll start Grade 5, which is the final year of Primary School, and then has to decide whether he'll continue at school or switch to vocational training.

Ngoc the Second

In September 2007, Blue Dragon brought a 13 year old boy named Ngoc from Hue to Hanoi for cleft lip surgery. (See some earlier stories here). His family was so poor, and his parents illiterate, so nobody ever took Ngoc for the simple surgery that would have healed his lip. Instead, he was the village outcast. Whenever I visited his home on the sand, I would see adults and children alike mock him. Ngoc had learned to completely tune out - he was often unresponsive to questions and displayed few social skills. He'd never been to school so had no idea how to read and write.

After the surgery, we took Ngoc home to his village, and everything seemed much better. But several weeks later, Ngoc called us to ask if he could come back to Hanoi. He wanted to go to school, which was completely out of the question where he lived. And, although he was being treated much better, he still longed for the respect and care he received while he was with us.

So we agreed, and Ngoc has been living in the Blue Dragon residence ever since. He's about to finish first grade, and he often studies with tutors and social workers at our drop-in centre. I don't think Ngoc has ever been in a fight, and the staff have never had to discipline him for anything! He loves being here, and he's making the most of every opportunity.

Ngoc the Third

In early December 2007, one of our older teen boys, named Ngoc, was stabbed and left for dead by some thugs who had been paid to kill someone with a similar name. The original post is here, with follow up stories here and here. We were all terribly afraid for Ngoc, but he came through (minus a kidney) and is now finishing Grade 11. He seems even thinner than ever, but he's in good health now and looking forward to having a long break over summer.

Sometimes when I talk to Ngoc about his future, he says he'd like to become a lawyer. In just over a year, he'll be sitting exams and preparing to enter uni. Maybe we'll be employing him a s child rights advocate a few years down the track!

She's in!

Today's a big day of celebration for one of our wonderful girls, Duong - she's been accepted into the KOTO training program!

There aren't many programs or opportunities for disadvantaged kids here in Hanoi. One of the challenges for Blue Dragon is finding suitable placements for all the kids who come to us. We don't say no to anyone, so we really do serve a wide range of needs.

Duong has been with Blue Dragon for under a year. She lives with her very poor family on a boat that sits on the Red River; but despite their terrible poverty, Duong is highly motivated. She wants to have a better life, and she's prepared to do something about it.

So she's been coming every day to our centre and taking part in everything that she can: English classes, a cooking club, social activities, and she even completed a short external cooking course to see if she really does want to follow a career in cooking.

Now she's taken a huge step: she's applied for, and been accepted, into KOTO, which runs a 2 year hospitality course. Getting accepted ain't easy - dozens and dozens apply, but there are only about 25 places.

Duong is thrilled - and so are we! This is the start of such an amazing new phase of her life.

Good luck, Duong! The future is yours!

Duong with her acceptance letter

The Blue Dragon cooking club - held every Sunday

Duong's home

Where'd you get those shoes?

Here are some photos taken last week of two kids - one about 10 years old - who have been trafficked from central Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City to work in a household factory making shoes. Something to think about next time you go shopping.

And now, a book

Feeling positive, punk?

Quotations for Positive People is a collection of inspiring quotes that has been compiled by Larry Welch - and he's offered to donate all of the profits to Blue Dragon! Thanks, Larry!

We're going to use the funds for some of our most positive work - providing homes to children who live on the streets. So, buy the book! Give it to your friends! Pay your staff in copies of the book rather than boring old cash!

Click here for more info: http://www.trafford.com/07-1419

Rugby and Cheerleading

Last time I wrote about Blue Dragon kids learning to play rugby (see here), some friends from England seemed less than impressed that I referred to it as an Australian sport.

So, to clarify, I didn't mean to imply that the games STARTED in Australia; just that Australia thrashes England mercilessly every time we play. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

And there may come a day that when Vietnam has its own rugby team - our kids are really getting into the game now! Last weekend we took part in our first tournament, and did pretty well even though we didn't win the trophy (blast those French!)

When we first started to play, both girls and boys wanted to learn; but now with all of the tackling and grabbing and throwing to the ground, the girls just aren't so keen. They do want to be involved, though, so we have started a cheerleading squad... possibly the first in Vietnam?? (If anyone knows of any other cheerleaders in Vietnam, please let me know!)

Here are some pics... Blue Dragon players are in black.

In Hue

I've just come back from Hue, where Blue Dragon's chief lawyer, Van, and I spent the last few days.

We've been working with families in Hue since 2005; one of my very first blogs was about a boy named Ngoc who we rescued from child traffickers in Ho Chi Minh City and took home to his family in Hue. And on Sunday, we officially launched our anti-trafficking program - the culmination of almost 3 years' work.

Back when we first started taking trafficked children home, it was unimaginable that we could ever be sitting in a room with government leaders, police, and education officials, announcing a formal program to support child victims of trafficking. But here we are. It was a very happy occasion.

Not all of our trip to Hue was so happy. Van and I spent some time with Chau, who is suffering terribly with cancer. He's in constant pain, despite some pretty powerful medication, and still hoping against hope that he will recover and find another job so her can support his parents.

Chau was working in a garment factory from the age of 14, and earned less than $200 a year. He only came home to his village because he was too ill to work any more. One thing we learned on the weekend is that Chau was sick for 7 months before going home. If only the factory owner had allowed Chau to seek proper medical treatment, it may well be that his cancer could have been treated and cured.

I'll be back in Hue in coming weeks to see Chau's family once more. There's not much that we can do now, except offer comfort and support.

Getting the girls

In the early days of Blue Dragon, when there was just me, a friend or two, and some ideas about helping street kids, we often came across the criticism that our programs almost entirely catered for boys, and not girls. One of the nuances of the NGO world is that it's fine to have programs specifically for girls, but it's something of a no-no to have programs for boys.

But we never intended to exclude girls; the problem was that we didn't know how to include them. Even when we had established a drop in center, we still found that girls rarely came.

Over time, we realised that it was a cultural issue. In Vietnam, boys have the freedom to hang out and go wandering through the streets, while girls are much more restricted by the social expectations that they will stay at home and look after the siblings or the cooking. Not unlike many other countries in the world.

Once we understood the problem, we could devise a solution. What we come up with was a more structured program of activities and classes that families would allow their girls to attend, particularly cooking and drama.

Since late 2007, Unilever has been supporting us to run cooking clubs, which we call "Healthy Dragons". Sometimes the clubs are lead by our social worker Phuong, but once a month Unilever sends one of their own chefs to conduct the lesson. The clubs are predominantly made of girls, but there's an increasing demand from boys now, as they see how cool the activities are (and how delicious the food is!)

And now that families are comfortable with the idea of their daughters coming to Blue Dragon, the girls are also more free to hang out in the drop in center. A huge shift has occurred in the past year or two; girls now represent almost exactly half of the kids in all of our programs. The clubs and activities have proven useful not only in getting the girls in, but also in teaching life skills and reaching girls in serious crisis.

Some pics from a recent weekend cooking club are below.

Diagnosis

Today I have some very sad news to report: the cancer hospital in Hanoi has given a very bleak prognosis for Chau. They believe that he does have cancer, that it has spread to his liver and kidneys, and that treatment will not be of much benefit.

There is still hope that they are wrong; and we are still exploring all avenues. But soon we may have to turn our attention to simply making Chau and his family comfortable and dealing with the pain to come.

I'll post more when I know more.

Expression

When you walk in the front door of the Blue Dragon drop in centre, one of the first things you see is the art room. There's always some art or craft activity going on, whether it's making jewelry for the kids to sell, or painting, or making puppets.

One of the ironies of Vietnam is that, while there are so many talented artists and artisans around the country, there are few avenues for children to develop their artistic interests. Kids normally don't do art in school - many of our kids are unfamiliar with using scissors when they first come to us.

So we give the kids as wide a range of artistic opportunities as we possibly can. Over the last 2 years, the range of arts and crafts that the children have been exposed to is mind boggling! And there's no doubt that these opportunities have helped many of the children, girls and boys alike, to become more expressive and to find inner qualities that they otherwise were unaware of.

Earlier this year, a woman named Jacqui from Gladstone in Queensland organised a fundraising party, thematically centered around art and dragons, and has come to volunteer with us for a few weeks. The money that she raised has been mostly used to provide art equipment for projects she's been working on with the kids, but she's also helped out with equipment and funds for other areas of our work.

The kids have had an amazing time getting involved in art projects big and small. Here are just a few of Jacqui's pics to show what she's been up to with the Blue Dragon children!

Kids and staff together in the art room

I made this!

The mural: One of the major projects, made of tiles

Planning and making

... and it's not all art. Jacqui (in the middle) is also

helping us to provide support for families.

Treatment

Just before Christmas last year, I blogged about a 17 year old boy named Chau - check the original post here. Chau is from Hue, in central Vietnam, and at age 15 he went to work in a garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City. When he became sick late last year, the boss fired him and sent him home, which is when one of our staff stumbled upon him in his village.

Chau was seriously ill when we met him; his throat was swollen, he could hardly move, and he was in terrible pain. The Hue Hospital diagnosed cancer, and started radiotherapy, but there has always been some doubt about Chau's condition. Another doctor has been worried that Chau might have an infection whose symptoms are very similar to those of cancer; in which case radiotherapy is a very bad idea.

So today Chau is travelling to Hanoi with his father to visit the Oncology Hospital - known as the K Hospital - in Hanoi. The doctors there have agreed to test Chau and try their best to determine the cause of his illness.

We're going in to this knowing that cancer cases - if that's what this is - can be very difficult and costly. We really don't know where this path will lead us, but we have to go down it anyway. How could we fail to help Chau?

The Oreo Kid

It's been a few months since Blue Dragon has met runaways in Hanoi - perhaps because of the extremely cold winter, the kids have preferred to stay at home! But now that the weather is warming up, we've come across three in a week. Two have been 'repeat runaways' - we've worked with them before - but one was new to us. Well, sort of.

In fact, some of our staff and vols had come across the little guy before. His name is Phuong, and despite his size he's 14 years old. (He's the tallest boy in the photo below). Just by chance, I ran into him on the street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi on Sunday; we'd met each other before (though neither of us is exactly clear when or why) so I took him back to the Centre to meet the social workers. Andrew, one of our Australian vols, had seen Phuong on the streets some months before, and it was an interesting story.

Andrew had told me about the encounter the day after they met, but then he didn't see Phuong again so couldn't bring him in to Blue Dragon. Phuong was shining shoes for backpackers, but his service was so good that he not only polished and cleaned; he also gave a bonus Oreo biscuit to his customers, delivered on a napkin. Service like that is unheard of!

Despite his entrepeneurial flair, Phuong has been doing it rough - real rough. So on Tuesday, our lawyer Van took him home to his family. Phuong is from a remote ethnic minority village; Van and the driver left at one thirty in the afternoon and got back to Hanoi 11 hours later.

The village was thrilled to see Phuong back. Neighbours flocked to see him; they couldn't believe their eyes. He'd been gone for over 6 months; he ran away after a dispute with his teacher at school. But all the villagers recognised that he's the brightest kid in their area; and there's no doubt, this kid has something very special about him.

Phuong is happily back with his parents now, and hopefully he'll feel comfortable to stay there. His family isn't too poor, but we do plan to keep sending him some books and games that will help keep him intellectually stimulated. This is one little boy with a bright future, but he needs to get back to school!

The Habit

Over the past week, we've been confronted by a problem that we haven't had to deal with very seriously until now. And, just to keep us on our toes, we had to deal with two totally separate cases of the same problem in the same week.

Gambling.

Vietnam has some really strict laws on gambling. It's essentially illegal (apart from the government run daily lotteries), but also quite widespread. The cases that make the media are usually mind-blowing (like this one... and this one... and this one...)

Gambling is the same in any country or culture. It's an addiction that ruins lives. In this respect, Australia and Vietnam are no different.

The cases we've been dealing with have involved the older brothers of two of our kids. In unrelated incidents, one lost his savings on gambling so followed a friend to the market to rob shoppers; and the other gambled the taxi he leases... and lost.

Both of these young men have wives, infant children, and debts. Both are from families that have been devastated by the death of a parent in recent years. And both have younger brothers in Blue Dragon's program who were utterly torn apart by their arrest and imprisonment.

One case has had a reasonably happy ending - the police agreed to put an end to the case and record the crime without sentencing the man to prison. But in the taxi case, the young man is likely to spend several years in prison. The taxi owner is not impressed (and it's not the first time this has happened).

Although these older brothers haven't been able to support their younger brothers financially, there's a strong sense of reliance and interdependence. Vietnamese families are very close; to lose an older brother to prison is not dissimilar to losing one through death. Added to that, there's the added sense of shame which is very powerful.

This is one of those situations that Blue Dragon can't help much with. The law has to run its course; the young men have done something wrong, and it's reasonable that they be punished. But what loss and hurt their addictions have caused for their families.

That other football

Being an Australian, I have major terminological problems when it comes to football.

I grew up with football as the game in which you run with the ball in your hands - rugby - as opposed to the kind of football in which you kick the ball - soccer.

Blue Dragon has a football (meaning soccer) team, called Real Betis Vietnam. We meet every Sunday morning and between 40 and 60 kids come to play an hour on dirt fields. It's great fun, and serves as a powerful outreach to the local community and to street kids.

But now we're starting to get into the other football (meaning rugby). Some local expats and the United Nations International School (UNIS) have started coaching and basic games for Vietnamese youth, as a way of introducing the Australian sport into Vietnam. The theory, of course, is that a game in which opponents stamp each other into the ground will be good for international relations.

So Blue Dragon kids have been heading up to UNIS on Saturday afternoons to learn to play - and they're having stacks of fun! Some photos to prove it...

Learning to drop kick

Girls can play too!

Some of you will recognise Quan, in the Blue shirt.
He was in Australia for surgery this time last year;
this is the first sport he has played since then.



OK, this isn't relevant.
Just a break for readers who aren't into sports.

Go, Thuy!

Dong in the House Sing Big

Over the last few weeks we’ve had some stress over violent attacks on our kids – sometimes near their schools, sometimes near the Blue Dragon residence, and usually with weapons. But last night was a complete change of pace; I took one of our street kids to the Hanoi Opera House.

The Opera House (“Nha Hat Lon” in Vietnamese – literally “House Sing Big”) is arguably the most beautiful building in Hanoi. I wanted to take one of our boys, named Dong, there to let him see a side to the city that he knows too little about. Dong has a long and very sad story; he has no parents and has lived on the streets for years. He’s only completed Grade 2 and at age 13 has lived such a wild life, stealing in the markets to survive, that it’s unlikely he’ll ever return to formal education. But since joining our Link program he has moved into a home and is attending informal classes at our drop in centre; he’s really calmed down and has given up the street life for good.

Still, he’s not exactly the kind of guy who hangs out at the Opera House very often.

Last night was a special occasion: the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Australia. To celebrate, the Embassy threw a party complete with an Australian soprano, Annalisa Kerrigan, singing with the accompaniment of the Vietnamese National Symphony Orchestra.

Annalisa visited Blue Dragon on Monday – her trip to Vietnam was organized by AFAP, who we partner with in some of our programs, so she came to meet some kids and see our centre. But until last night I hadn’t seen her on stage… and wow was she something. What a treat to be there.

For Dong, his first trip to the opera was certainly memorable. He loved the orchestra, he loved Annalisa, and he even got to go on stage with all the VIPs for a group photo. It was wonderful to see him mixing it with ambassadors and dignitaries, cheering at the end of “Let the Bright Seraphim”, and sticking his fingers in his ears when the applause reached fever pitch.

In many ways, Vietnam is the land of opportunities. The country is racing forward and developing rapidly. Who knows… maybe one day Dong will be visiting the Opera House in a suit and tie himself.

House building

At long last, I have some photos of two houses that Blue Dragon has built in Hue. We don't normally build houses for families - only when there's a really serious need - but I think most people would agree that both of these cases would qualify...

Both houses are for families of kids who were trafficked but are now at home and going to school.

House 1: Hung's house

Before...


After...

(A note about the banner on the front of the house: The custom in Vietnam is for the donor to attach a plaque to any house that they pay for - even if they only pay a tiny proportion of the total cost. I don't like to do that, as it implies we still own the home. But the families often want to recognise us in this way - it increases their status in the community! - so our compromise is to hang a banner for the party when the house is being 'officially' opened. )

House 2: Viet's house

Before...

After...

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's...

Back to school we go!

Thirteen year old Duong was a runaway when we met him in Hanoi 18 months ago. He'd escaped a tough family situation, and although we tried to get the family back together Duong ended up living in our residence and joining our Link program.

But on Feb 14, Duong will go back to school - something he told us he would never do. It's been a difficult decision for him and he'll need lots of support, but here's hoping we can make this a success!

Days of feasting

One key to understanding Vietnamese culture is in understanding the importance of food, and eating together.

At Blue Dragon, we have a program called The Link, which brings together some of the toughest street kids around and helps them work toward a more normal, safe life. As difficult as these boys are to handle, the one time of day that they are quiet and cooperative is when they are sitting on a straw mat in the evening having dinner.

Meals are always enjoyed with friends and family; people rarely eat alone. And unlike typical meals in the west, all dishes are shared. Diners pluck their meat and vegetables from bowls in the middle of the mat or table.

In the lead up to Lunar New Year (Tet), food is even more precious. It’s a great honour to be invited to somebody’s home to share a meal in the last days of the year, as well as in the first days of the new year.

We had a few very special food-based celebrations with our kids in the lead up to Tet. The first came on Australia Day, January 26, when the Australian Ambassador and his wife donated a massive cake and fruit hamper to the boys in our main residence. None of them had ever seen such a large cake – I’d never seen such a large cake! – but even with 18 kids (and a couple of larger helpers, me included) there was still some left over for the next morning.

That same night, another very special occasion. One of our boys, named Trung, has just secured his first job as a kitchen trainee in at the Hilton Hotel in Hanoi. What a place to start work! I first met Trung some years ago, as a tiny 13 year old orphan shining shoes to survive. Over time, Trung has come and gone, but he’s back now, he’s grown up incredibly quickly, and he’s got a terrific job with great potential. To celebrate, Trung cooked a feast for dinner at the Residence, with about 8 dishes plus dessert.



This was his way of saying thanks to everyone for supporting him while he looked for a job; and also a way of building his own confidence as he prepared to join the workforce.

In the days leading up to Tet, our kids took to distributing food to poor families in our area. A volunteer from the US, Minh, worked with the kids to buy rice, sweets and banh chung (a special rice cake), and the kids had to decide who should receive the food packages. Minh and the kids then went about handing out the gifts – which involved going across Long Bien bridge to the island in the Red River, and clambering about under staircases and overpasses. This gave our kids a chance to share the joy that they experience at Tet, and let them engage in some community service.

Now Tet is coming to an end, and the normal hectic pace of city life will return soon. In the six years that I’ve been in Vietnam, this has to be the most peaceful and satisfying Lunar New Year that I’ve experienced.

Say cheese!

It’s the Year of the Rat!

Day 1 of the New Year was Thursday, so Hanoi has been very quiet for the past couple of days. Most of the Blue Dragon kids have headed back to the countryside; I’ve been looking after just 5 boys who have no family to go to. Our drop in center is running on a skeleton staff in case of emergency – but thankfully, everything has been peaceful so far.

Going about the streets has been nice; there’s hardly anybody about so for once the traffic isn’t totally insane. One odd thing has been that people have abandoned wearing helmets. Back in December, the government introduced a regulation that all motorbike riders must wear helmets, and their enforcement was so good that easily 99% of people have been following the law. But for some reason, Tet seems to be the time to leave the helmet at home…

Blue Dragon will get back to normal on Tuesday in the coming week. I’ll add another post over the weekend about some of the food-related fun of the past weeks.

Chuc mung nam moi!

Renovation!

Two small renovation projects that Blue Dragon has had underway were finished off this week.

At the Hoi An Children’s Home, the kids’ bathrooms have long been in need of basic repairs. With the massive floods that swept through last year, the facilities were damaged even further, to the point of having the sinks hanging off the walls… But donations from friends both in Vietnam and around the world meant that we could finally get them fixed. Have a look at the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots!

Watch out for the sink...

The new sinks are installed

It might seem like a simple renovation, but to the 30 kids who live at the Home, it makes a big difference.

Here in Hanoi, Ngoc’s home was repaired last month in preparation for his return from hospital. Since the stabbing attack that occurred, Ngoc’s health has slowly improved but he’ll never have full strength again. His tiny house simply wasn’t suitable for somebody with weak lungs: it was dusty, without even a ceiling to hide the asbestos roof.

The water system for Ngoc's house was one of the first things we replaced

A view inside the one-room house

Blue Dragon organized for a major renovation of the house, and Ngoc moved back home around Christmas. But our volunteer Andrew has been working on some finishing touches, which were installed earlier this week.

Andrew has been mentoring one of our older boys, Hung, who had tuberculosis meningitis a couple of years ago. Hung’s progress is extremely slow, but he loves tinkering in Blue Dragon’s Shed and has been helping Andrew to make furniture and do basic repairs to our centre.

Hung and Andrew worked together to make some shelves and a fold-away study desk for Ngoc’s house, and on Tuesday they went to install. Hung, pictured, just couldn’t stop grinning as he watched his handy-work being bolted to the wall. Ngoc and his family, too, are thrilled to have this addition to their home. Smiles all around!

Hung inside Ngoc's house, with his handy work installed

(And for those who have been following this story, the police have caught all three attackers who stabbed Ngoc).

Picture this

A really cool link that you might like to see:

http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/9731

A few weeks back, Blue Dragon was fortunate to have photographer Darren Zlatareff come and hang out, and teach the kids some photography. Darren captured some images of one of the Blue Dragon kids, Nhan, whose dad works for us as a motorbike guard. Darren's pics are touching - go see for yourself...

The Big 2

In the past few days, we've held both of our major celebrations for the year, with about 550 kids joining in Blue Dragon's Lunar New Year parties.

On Sunday, some staff and kids travelled from Hanoi to Bac Ninh province where we sponsor about 350 girls and boys to attend school. The New Year celebration is one of several incentives for these kids and their families to stay at school; and it's also a chance for us to reward them for their commitment to study.

Sponsored kids waiting for the ceremony to begin

All of the sponsored children - most of whom are girls - receive our support because their families just can't afford the school fees and all the other costs. Once they drop out of school, the kids are targetted by traffickers who want them to work in garment factories.

A sponsored girl receiving her gift from staff member Diep.

Over the years, we have seen the kids grow up - literally - as they progress through school and deal with the slings and arrows of their lives. On Sunday I spoke briefly with a 15 year old girl named Hien, who was the first child that Blue Dragon ever built a house for. Hien and her mum were squatting in an abandoned house that was falling apart and infested with snakes and insects. That was about 3 years ago; Hien is now doing so well at school, and starting to think about university. Having a proper house to live in made such a difference.

And then on Tuesday we held the Third Annual Tet Awards celebration at the Revolutionary Museum. This is the night that we get together all the kids from our Hanoi program and acknowledge their hard work and achievements over the past year. All the kids get a chance to come onto the stage and receive a certificate and a gift, and there's also a Special Awards section in which the kids with exceptional progress are rewarded. The children perform dramas, sing, dance, and make speeches - it's such a special night. (I am already starting to plan next year's event!)

The recipients of the Special Awards on the night were:

Good Sports Award
presented by Mr Bill Tweddell, Australian Ambassador
N. T. Anh
N.H. Tai
P. B. Minh


English Speakers Award
presented by Dr James Kember, New Zealand Ambassador
N. T. Phuong
N.M. Nghia
... with an encouragement award to P.T. Hien

Hugh and Susan Adams Award for Self Improvement
presented by Michael Brosowski, Director of Blue Dragon
N. V. Trung
H. V. Ky
N. V. Minh
P. V. Hung

Creativity Award
presented by Nadine Ziegeldorf, Program Development Officer at Blue Dragon
N. V. Thuy
N. V. Son
N. P. Hanh

Computing Skills Award
presented by Mr Sean Hoy, Head of Irish Aid
N. N. Bao
N. T. Phuong
N. T. Van Anh
N. M. Nghia

Pham Sy Chung Award for Good Character
presented by Michael Brosowski, Director of Blue Dragon
Vu Thi Lam
C. V. Toan
L. D. Nghia

Strength in Adversity Award

presented by Tam Tran, Social Work Coordinator at Blue Dragon
N. T. Ngoc
N. T. Ba
H. Q. Tuan

Community Service Award
presented by Diana Rudolph, President of the Hanoi International Women's Club
B. T. Yen
V. T. Quyen
T. V. Cuong
N. V. Duong

Award for Academic Excellence
presented by Mr Daniel Selvanayagam, Director of World Vision Vietnam
B. T. Yen
L. T. Hieu
N. V. Can
... with an encouragement award to L. V. Cuong

Director's Award
presented by Michael Brosowski, Director of Blue Dragon
T. V. Ngoc
D. V. Chinh
N. T. Trinh

Out of the need for anonymity, I can't publish the kids' full names, but at the same time I want to boast of their extraordinary achievements and characters. Among these kids are a boy who was trafficked from his village but is now coming top of his classes at a private school; a girl who was kidnapped and sold to a brothel but is now looking for a job and getting her life together; a boy who almost died of tuberculosis meningitis but is now slowly regaining his health and learning carpentry; a blind girl who studies at a mainstream school; boys who used to steal in the markets for a living but now want to study and help others.... I could go on for hours. I want to go on for hours. But you get the idea.

It was a great night; and last Sunday in Bac Ninh province was also a great event. Such inspiring kids!