Aid to typhoon victims

Following up from an earlier blog about the aftermath of the typhoon: Blue Dragon has delivered rice and other food supplies to about 200 families in Hue. We're happy to report that the families we work with were mostly unharmed by the typhoon - although in the days following they've been going hungry as their normal sources of food have been cut off.

We'll be sending out an update to everyone on our mailing list in coming days, so email Amy - info@bdcf.org - if you're not on the mailing list but want to be!

And below are a couple of pics of the distribution. The 2nd photo shows our lawyer, Van, with a family whose home has been severely damaged.






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Then and now

The photo below is taken in a tent set up on a demolished slum site in Hanoi.

Trang, aged 17, is wearing the pink shirt. This is her family's business: her mother, disabled by a bomb during the American - Vietnam war, relies on this "shop" as her sole source of income.



When I first met Trang and her mother Thanh, they were living in a house on this site. It wasn't a great place to live, but it was better than a tent. A couple of years ago, when the slums were demolished, all the slum owners were compensated - except for Mrs Thanh and her little family. So they erected this tent and now sell tea and drinks to workers from the nearby Long Bien market. A short time later, Trang's father died, so she dropped out of school to help her mother in the shop.

The photo below shows Trang three days ago.

Trang and her mother Thanh were desperate to find a way to get out of their awful circumstances, so they came to Blue Dragon and asked us to help Trang get some vocational training.

We were able to get Trang into a hair dressing course, and this week she has VERY proudly graduated. She's even been offered a job in another business!

Trang is all smiles. Things are looking up now; she has the skills to hold down a decent job, and she's motivated to do well.

A big difference between then and now.

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Better now

Most of the news out of Vietnam and around south east asia has just been awful lately - so I thought it was time to post some good news. A few pics below of our kids celebrating the Mid-Autumn festival.... with special thanks to those lovely people who donated moon cakes for everyone to enjoy!

I have no idea what's going on in that last photo, but the first two show the kids making traditional stars in a park.

I also want to thank those individuals and groups who donated food and rice for the relief effort in Hue and Hoi An. I had one very humbling email from a Vietnamese man in the US who was sending us the money he'd been saving up so hard - but believed that the kids who lost all their gear in the typhoon needed it more than he did. That made me want to cry.

Bue Dragon's lawyer and some staff from the UN school, UNIS, are in Hue right now delivering about 2 tonnes of rice and noodles to families who lost everything. Powerful stuff.

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Hoi An Children's Home - In Recovery

The flash flood in Hoi An, sparked by the typhoon, has receded, so the kids and staff are in the process of cleaning up and working out what they've lost. These photos have just come through, taken by one of the Social Workers there named Van.

The road leading to the Home - now accessible by boat!

Blue Dragon volunteers carrying supplies to the kids.

The front yard of the Home; trees are down, and filth is everywhere.

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Typhoon update

What a rotten week in the Pacific - earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons. Let's hope there's nothing more to come.

I am in Hobart, Tasmania, so information is coming to me. I hugely appreciate those people and groups who have contacted me or my colleagues to offer support.

The news as I have it right now:

The floods in Hoi An are receding - as this was a flash flood, the disaster seems to have moved on pretty quickly. Kids at the Hoi An Children's Home have lost a lot of their personal gear, and furniture has been badly damaged, but I don't yet know the extent of loss.

Just to the north, in Hue, it seems that the typhoon has destroyed many homes. We're working in Hue with children who were trafficked; we need to make sure that this crisis does not lead families to sending their children back to the garment factories in the south. I am waiting to hear how many families need help to repair their homes; it's still too early for rebuilding to begin but this will need to commence in the coming week. Some pics below of the Hue families to help you see what's happening. Some of the houses have been completely demolished.

Awash

The news from central Vietnam today is pretty bad - the typhoon has hit Hoi An and Hue with unusual ferocity. There's not much news at the moment, as power lines and telephones are down, but mobile phones are still working so we're staying in contact with our people on the ground as much as we can.

In Hue, many families have had their homes partly destroyed by the winds: rooves have been blown away, and families in shacks have lost everything. We're going to need to build some houses once the storms have passed.

In Hoi An, the situation is even more urgent. A dam wall collapsed, causing an unexpected and sudden flood of most of the town. The 30 kids at the Hoi An Children's Home are trapped on the 2nd floor of their building; the water rose so suddenly that many of their belongings and equipment belonging to the Home are irretrievably lost. It's heartbreaking, but the good news is that our kids and staff are all safe.

I'm hoping to write more on Saturday, when I have some more info. In the meantime, if anyone is able to pledge support, we're going to need to act fast once the wind and waters recede. Email me at bluedragon@bdcf.org, or contact Amy on info@bdcf.org. So many crises have hit the region that it's going to be tough to raise some funds, but every bit will help.

Check in again on the weekend for an update.

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A day in court

People often ask me, "What jobs do the Blue Dragon kids do when they grow up?"

So far we have young adults who have gone on to work in restaurants and hotels... hairdressing... social work... electronics... motorbike repair... and small businesses (particularly shoe-making and mobile phone repair).

One of the challenges for the Blue Dragon staff is to encourage our kids to think more broadly: to find jobs that really interest them and suit their skills. Sadly, most disadvantaged youth in Vietnam think that they should simply find a job that suits their position in society - ie, poorly paid and with few prospects for the future.

So this week, the Education Coordinator, Trang, and one of our Child Rights Advocates, Hong, organised an outing to the Hanoi law court. Eight kids attended, including one who is just starting to study law at uni, and another who has just been released from a reform school!

The chief of the court took the time to show the group around and answer their myriad questions about how the court works and what jobs are available to those interested in the legal system.

Up to now, plenty of Blue Dragon kids have been on the wrong side of the law... But perhaps, in years to come, we'll have a few former Blue Dragon boys and girls sitting over on the other side of the judicial bench...

Outside the court

The whole gang

Inside the court, this is where the judge, prosecutor, and officials sit

The defendants...

... and saying thanks at the end.

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Reading material

I've just come across this review of Dragon House. In case you're not sure about what Dragon House is, check out one of my earlier blogs, here.

And... in case you're not on the Blue Dragon mailing list, we have a quarterly newsletter out now, with a special focus on stories of rescue and escape. If you want to read that (and / or be on the mailing list), email the Amazing Amy at: info@bdcf.org.

Another blog update on Monday - promise!

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Blogging from Singapore

I have been a bad blogger - billions of things happening but not a moment to sit down and write about them!

- I am in Singapore, where one of the Blue Dragon kids has now officially started a 4 year scholarship at Chatsworth International School. He's all smiles, but exhausted - such a huge step for a boy who was once a trafficked child working on the streets of Saigon!

- Back in Hanoi, our lead Social Worker, Giang, organised a first aid workshop last weekend for parents who live on the Red River. These are desperately poor families living on rafts that are moored to the river bank - and there are myriad health risks that they deal with daily. Hopefully now they have a few new ideas about protecting themselves and each other. (That's the workshop in the photo below).

- And some big news that I'll write more about later - Hanh, one of our girls, has just been accepted into Art School. She's ecstatic. This has always been her dream. I'll put up another blog about this in coming days... it's really the most wonderful news...

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Shirt for sale

Something a little unusual today...

Long time Blue Dragon support Iain Purdie is raffling off this Blue Dragon soccer shirt to raise funds for us.


We plan to use the funds raised to support the 80 or so kids who come along and play every Sunday. The weekly matches are a big part of our outreach to children living in one of the roughest parts of Hanoi.

Go check out Iain's page - Exclusive football shirt raffle - and pass thee word along too your friends!

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Better than shoe shine

A great event took place yesterday: one of the Blue Dragon kids, a former shoe shine boy, opened his very own mobile phone shop here in Hanoi.

Nghia, who turns 18 in a month, has been working toward this for a long time. I first met Nghia 3 years ago in Ho Chi Minh City; his family is from a northern province but he'd made his way south to support his parents by working on the streets.

You can look at my original blog about meeting Nghia here - The Big Secret. Scroll down about half way to the paragraph starting "And here in Saigon".

Since then, Nghia has finished Grade 9 and also studied a few courses in mobile phone repair, including two internships in small mobile phone businesses. His dream all along has been to have a shop of his own; and as he stood yesterday behind his counter with a grin from ear to ear, all his hard work seems to have been worth it.

Nghia is not the first Blue Dragon kid to open a business. I've written about some previously, including in this post. But we don't have a whole lot of former street kids out there with their own businesses just yet; most of our kids are still too young, or have other dreams and ambitions.

For those who have taken this step, though, it can be very empowering to join the ranks of the self employed small business owner. I guess that's what shoe shining is, in its own way: a small business with customers, some investment in capital, and a need to turn a profit each day. The move from the streets to a rented shop is a significant step, though. Nghia's shop is a legitimate business; there's a respectability in what he does now that 'street kids' will never get by shining shoes.

We're really proud of Nghia. His perseverance, study, and determination have all come to something.


(In case you're in Hanoi, Nghia's shop is located at 18 Tran Khat Chan Street in Hanoi).

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Encouragement

I am still in Ho Chi Minh City, planning to return to Hanoi on Monday with Hugh and his daughter Lan. Yesterday we held a simple memorial service for Susan Adams at RMIT University, and there'll be another in Hanoi at the Hilton on Tuesday.

My natural instinct when faced with a tragedy like this is to think of those who are nearest and dearest to me. Because of the nature of my work, that's a whole lot of people. So over these past few days I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about the kids who live in Blue Dragon homes, and the street kids who come to our centre, and even those who have long since moved on from Blue Dragon and are living far from us. The introvert in me enjoys having time alone, but right now I am missing the many many people who give me comfort and encouragement through my own hard times.

Being away from Hanoi, I have missed out on a trip that my staff organised yesterday afternoon. During the week, one of the Blue Dragon social workers told me about a centre for children with HIV about an hour's drive from Hanoi. The centre has about 50 kids, and none of them have ever attended school so over the past year the staff have been working with the community and Department of Education to get the local people to accept 15 children into the school.

Everything seemed fine, until the very first day of school... Parents were out protesting, things got violent... And the kids were sent home with the clear message that they were not welcome.

(This article appeared online today - it's about a different centre in a different part of the country, but the story is eerily similar).

So the Blue Dragon staff decided to go out there on the weekend and spend some time visiting the children at the centre. It was intended as a token gesture - we wanted the children to have a different message. We wanted them to know that there ARE people who care for them.

Five staff went, and 5 kids from our Hanoi residence went along too. The photos below are of teens from Blue Dragon playing with infants at the centre.



We know that we haven't solved any long term problems... maybe this visit hasn't changed anything at all.

But an afternoon of playing together, eating together, and sharing gifts has hopefully given the children some encouragement that will help them deal with their feelings of rejection and abandonment.

I guess we all need some encouragement at times.


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Farewell to a hero

Tonight I am writing from Ho Chi Minh City with the terrible news that Susan Adams, a long time friend of Blue Dragon, has passed away.

Susan was a hero to me: she and her husband Hugh were the very first supporters that I had back in 2002 when Blue Dragon Children's Foundation was no more than a vague idea.

In December 2002, one of my students at the University of Economics - Pham Sy Chung, who was working with me on the idea of establishing a charity - excitedly told me about Hugh and Susan. Hugh was also teaching at the uni, and Susan was the IMF Country Representative in Vietnam. "They'll help us, for sure," Chung told me.

I rolled my eyes. Although I'd been thinking about setting up some kind of organisation for only a short time, I was already tired of people promising help but coming up with absolutely nothing. For a moment I wanted to tell Chung "Forget about it - they won't help," but I figured I had nothing much to lose so I agreed to meet them.

We first met at the Hanoi Opera House, where Susan and Hugh had organised a concert to raise funds for a school for blind children. From the very start, they were committed. I remember Susan saying to me: "Tell me how we can help. We love what you're doing, so just tell us what you need."

And that was that. From that day on, both Susan and Hugh have always been available, always ready to get involved, and always there with a shoulder to lean on, or cry on, as required. In 2003, when it looked like I was going to be deported (that's a story for another time) it was Susan who came to my rescue. Without her involvement, Blue Dragon probably would not exist now.

And over the years, she has been an ongoing source of inspiration. Knowing that I am far from my own family and loved ones, she signs off every email with "Love, Mommy."

Susan, the world is in shock tonight. It seems much too soon for you to have left us. Thank you for all you gave. You will not be forgotten.


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Ring, ring

Just to make everyone (but my own)'s life more complex: I have changed my mobile phone number. Email me on bluedragon @ bdcf.org if you need to update your rolodex.

And to make this entry a little more interesting, here's an article for anyone who has ever asked me: "But isn't school free in Vietnam?"

Parents trapped in a web of school fees

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Tam on TV

I wrote last week that Channel 10 in Australia was showing a documentary featuring Tam Tran, who volunteered at Blue Dragon through an AusAid program.

Here's the clip of Tam from the documentary, via YouTube.

No Ordinary Journey

It goes for almost 8 minutes and gives some good insight into the work we do with street kids.

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Special delivery

This is a post from Singapore, where I'm staying in a backpacker hostel in Chinatown.

I travel from Hanoi to Singapore every year, but this has been a really special trip: this time I have come with a 'special delivery'.

One of the Blue Dragon kids - I'll call him "Nam" - has been offered a scholarship to study at Chatsworth International School. So I traveled over to bring him to Chatsworth, and today was his first day of study.

This scholarship was announced about a year ago by the school principal, so we've had some time to plan and prepare. Nam was the natural choice to take up the offer: he's bright, studies hard, and is well behaved. And more than that, Nam has already traveled a long way with Blue Dragon.

I first met Nam about 3 years ago, in Ho Chi Minh City, where he'd been trafficked to work on the streets. A small team of us put into action a plan to get him away from the traffickers, and we took him home to his family in central Vietnam. Nam then came to live with us in Hanoi - his family circumstances were pretty difficult and we knew his best chance to go back to school was if he stayed in our residence.

From Ho Chi Minh City, to Hanoi, and now to Singapore.

Seeing Nam off to school this morning brought up a lot of emotions - for both of us. We'd been to orientation at the school on Friday... but how would he cope alone? Would his English be good enough to cope? Would he fit in with the other students?

This afternoon I was back at Chatsworth to pick Nam up. The smile on his face said it all. "Everything was OK," he told me. But it seemed more than OK; somehow, his English had improved in just one day, and Nam stood tall as he explained to me his timetable.

Nam's really going to be OK. He's not just going to survive; he's going to thrive at Chatsworth. This is the chance of a lifetime, and Nam knows it.

How his life has changed in just a few years!
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Kids with HIV

I've just come across this article in Time about the prejudice faced by children with HIV in Vietnam:

HIV-Positive Kids Shunned from Vietnam School

(Thanks, Minh, for sending me that).

This does sound similar to attitudes in Australia 20 years ago... I just hope that Vietnam can catch up soon.


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Tune in

For all readers in Australia:

Tune in to Channel 10 this Sunday, August 30, at 3pm, to see the documentary No Ordinary Journey.

Last year AusAid commissioned a documentary about Australians volunteering around the world. Among the 5 volunteers they decided to feature was one young man named Tam Tran, of Melbourne, who was volunteering with Blue Dragon for 12 months through an AusAid program.

I haven't seen the final cut, but it should give some insight into Blue Dragon and the type of work we do.

And... double check the viewing time beforehand, just in case there are any interstate differences.

Email me to let me know what you think!


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The long way home

During the past week, 3 runaway kids wandered into our Hanoi drop in centre. Of course, none of them admitted to being runaways, but their filthy clothes and wild behavior was something of a clue!

Since Blue Dragon started, we've reunited 55 runaway kids with their families. It would be fair to say that that has involved 55 weeks of work: on average, we need at least a week with each and every runaway before we can take them home and successfully resolve the issues with their parents.

In last week's group of 3 was one very young boy, looking like he was 5 but apparently he was 8. It was clear that he dearly missed his family, but the other kids were pressuring him into staying with them... and on the streets, you learn very quickly to abide by the group.

So this little guy, Tuan, was torn between missing his mother and needing to follow the older kids. Finally, on Friday, Tuan agreed to go home. (As a side note: all major developments at Blue Dragon take place on Friday afternoons).

Tuan is from Lang Son, a province bordering on China and renowned for being a major 'crossing point' for human traffickers. Tuan was lucky that he made it all the way to Blue Dragon without something pretty awful happening to him.

Two of our staff, Van and Vi, drove with Tuan for the 4 hour journey north of Hanoi. As they neared Tuan's home, he suddenly changed his mind: he didn't want to go home! But with assurances that he was safe, he eventually calmed down and went to see his family.

Tuan was indeed safe: his family love him very much and lived in dread of what fate had befallen him. Tuan was away from home for 20 days. I can't imagine the terror his family must have gone through.

He had taken to the streets because of a few problems at home, and in particular one family member treating him badly. But the biggest problem of all was that his mother had left the family home to work in Hanoi. Tuan's father is long gone, so he was living in the care of his grand mother who loves him dearly but simply couldn't substitute for his own mum.

On learning this, Van and Vi got on the phone and tracked down Tuan's mother in Hanoi. She was in tears to hear of what her son had been through, and relieved to know he was safe and well. She's been working on building sites as a laborer, carrying bricks and doing other simple jobs to earn enough to live on. She desperately wants to care for her son, but is too overwhelmed by her own circumstances.

To us, though, this looks like a situation we can help with. Son wants to be with mum... Mum wants to be with son... Each need some help to make it happen.

Van, Vi and little Tuan got back in the car and returned to Hanoi, this time heading for the mother's house. (If only Tuan had known where she lived before this journey began!) Mother and son are back together now, and early this coming week we'll meet with them to see if Blue Dragon can help to keep them together. For now, at least, they're happy.

And for our next trick, we need to see how we can help the other 2 runaways...


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Launch, farewell, watch, welcome back

Launch: With the summer holidays coming to an end, Blue Dragon held the annual Opening Ceremony for our 350 school kids in Bac Ninh province, just north of Hanoi. These children are supported by sponsors around the world, whose donations pay for text books, school fees, uniforms, and gear such as bags and stationery.

Farewell: James and Alison Kember, some of Blue Dragon's strongest supporters (and also, in their spare time, New Zealand's ambassadors to Vietnam) are heading home after a three year posting to Hanoi. Alison has been teaching English to some of the school girls at the Blue Dragon centre; these girls have just graduated from Year 12 and have benefited enormously from all the extra tuition they have received. The farewells for both Alison and James have been moving, but we know we will see them again soon...

... and we've also just said farewell to Heather Campbell, a member of the Blue Dragon Committee in NSW Australia who took leave from her career to work with us for about 5 months. It's been terrific having her here, and she's really become a part of the family - but time now to go back to work!

Watch: Some great volunteers have made a short film about one of the Blue Dragon kids named Toan, who has been with us for about 4 years now. Check this out for some insight into the life of a former street kid .

Welcome back: And we're thrilled to welcome back to Vietnam two of our kids, Quyen and Nghia, who have just spent 3 amazing weeks in Thailand! The Royal Thai Embassy invited them to join 20 other Vietnamese youth on a cultural exchange to northern Thailand, and what an EXTRAORDINARY time they've had. We went out to the airport to welcome them back on Monday, and I swear they've grown taller and infinitely more confident in just a few weeks. In the pic below, Nghia is the boy standing behind the guard; and Quyen is wearing the pink hat.



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The Word

Lots happening at the moment - including a huge day of opening ceremonies north of Bac Ninh, and a multitude of farewells for good friends who are leaving Vietnam and/or Blue Dragon.

I'll get around to writing some more soon, but for now here's a link to a recent feature article about street kids in southern Vietnam.

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Safety

Every Sunday morning, Blue Dragon staff organise games of football for kids living around the Red River. With soccer as the unofficial national religion, it's no wonder that we get up to 80 kids every week; and the challenge for us is to use our contact with them to do some greater good (greater, even, than an hour of football).

So from time to time we organise workshops for the kids to join after football; and in the past 2 months we've held some workshops to teach the kids about how to prevent HIV infections.

HIV/AIDS is a rapidly growing problem in Vietnam; people here commonly believe in luck and superstition, so it's not unusual to hear people say things like "I won't get AIDS because I'm a good person and fate will protect me." And unprotected sex isn't the only cause of high transmission rates. In the area surrounding the Red River in Hanoi, drug use is rampant and needles are usually shared among friends before being discarded on the street. One morning at football we had to sweep aside almost 20 discarded needles before play could begin.

Vietnam has some innovative local organisations to support victims of HIV/AIDS, and these same groups are available to teach youth all about the disease.

Meeting in a local kindergarten near the football field...

Demonstrating a safe way to pick up a discarded needle

The workshops have been well attended - kids came to one of the sessions even though torrential rain had forced the cancellation of football! And it's great to see that the kids have the maturity to discuss the taboo topic of HIV/AIDS...


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Off to work

Something to make up for the fact that I haven't blogged all week -

A day's work

- and you might notice that gold mining scores a mention at the end...



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The Dragon House deal

Coming out on September 1 is a novel about Vietnamese street kids called Dragon House. The author, John Shors, sent me a draft to look over it late last year and I was stunned by its authenticity!


John wants to use his novel to help Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, so he's offered a special deal:

Anyone who goes to the Blue Dragon website and donates $100 (following this link: http://bdcf.org/dragon_house.html) will receive an autographed copy of the book!

Get on the website and check it out. This is a great way to support the work we're doing with street kids, and a chance to get hold of an autographed novel by a bestselling author!



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They're shining!

Some months ago, I first blogged about an activity we're running in Hue called The Right to Shine.

Funded by ArtVenture in Singapore, this is a drama group for kids from impoverished families who had been trafficked from rural to urban areas, but are now back in their villages trying to return to normal lives.

The basic premise of the project is that these kids, like any others, have the right to shine - to be recognised as amazing, valuable human beings who deserve to be cared for and respected.

Over the summer holidays, the kids have been taking part in drama classes, learning to express themselves in a safe environment. But it's all been leading up to some community performances in which the kids can use drama to tell their communities about the experience of being trafficked. The message of the performances is: kids should be at home, not slaving away in factories.

The facilitator of the drama groups, the irrepressible Skye Maconachie, has been keeping her own blog about this. Check out her latest entry to see what she says about the first performance, which was held on Tuesday night.

There's one more performance to come, this coming Tuesday, and I will be in Hue for that one.

For now: some photos of the first village performance by Blue Dragon kids...






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Excellent results!

The little guy in the photo above is named Loi; he's about 12 years old and lives in a village in Hue. He has a moderate form of cerebral palsy, and because of this he had never been to school before Blue Dragon staff met him and provided him with the support and encouragement to go study.

He's just finished Grade 1, and he's the only person in his class to receive a certificate of excellence! This is great news for him, and also suggests that he's extremely bright: kids who start school so late rarely achieve outstanding results.

Some more great results today from our older teens who have been taking part in a cooking class organised by Mr Ha, the owner of Matchbox restaurant. He's been teaching about 6 of our kids through the summer; today, the group traveled over to his restaurant for a 'final exam', which was fairly serious but also a lot of fun.

Two girls, Phuong and Phuong Anh, received a prize for achieving the best overall results. I'll post some pics of the cooking exam tomorrow!


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Son of a gold miner

Blue Dragon has recently been joined by a new teenage boy, Huy, whose life is off to a pretty rotten start.

Huy is aged about 15, and he was orphaned by HIV a couple of years ago. His story sounds extraordinary, but the circumstances that lead to the death of his parents aren't so unusual.

About 5 years back, his father was taken to work in a gold mine. I say "taken," although I am not sure of the exact circumstances - it's unclear if he chose to go to the mine, or he was somehow tricked or abducted.

Once there, though, the mining "company" doesn't have an employment contract; instead, they have heroin. They shoot heroin up the arms of all the miners, to get them hooked so that they cannot escape. The mines are isolated, and the workers have no money, so once they are addicted they are essentially prisoners, but the shackles are white powder injected through a needle.

And in the interest of saving money, there's just one needle. Everyone shares.

Eventually, every miner succumbs to HIV. They are then sent away - fired, in essence, and sent home. With no idea of why they are so ill, and no knowledge of HIV or safe sex, they slowly die at home and chances are they will pass the infection on to their wife.

So it was with Huy's family. First his father died, and then his mother.

And then, the village gossip begins.

As other families start talking and speculating, the taunting starts - on the streets, and then at school.

For Huy, the discrimination at school lead him to drop out. He was not only being teased, but also set apart from his classmates and left out of games and sports.

So Huy has found his way to Blue Dragon, and is enjoying the new freedom he has. He'll be starting at school soon, and this time nobody will know about his past.

There's no way we can make up for all that has happened, but at least Huy can have a new chance to make something of his life.

And meantime, I am left wondering... how many more families have been devastated by this barbaric practice? How many more orphans are out there because of this awful system of gold mining?



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Our Kathryn

Here's an article in a Sydney newspaper about Kathryn Freeman, a Blue Dragon volunteer who recently returned home:

http://hornsby-advocate.whereilive.com.au/news/story/touched-by-needy-hanoi-children/

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The comeback kids

Social enterprises are the latest craze in the world of development... and for once, it's a 'craze' that seems to be helpful and worthwhile.

The idea of a social enterprise is this: it's a profit making business that also has social, or environmental, goals. In Vietnam, there are several such enterprises that provide training to disadvantaged youth, particularly in the hospitality field. Blue Dragon has ventured this way with one enterprise called VIP Bikes, and many similar business are popping up all over the place.

While I support the idea of a social enterprise, the model has its limits. Recently someone was advising me that Blue Dragon should work more like a social enterprise, with a greater emphasis on training and job placement. The theory sounds good, but in practice it has its drawbacks.

Most of the kids Blue Dragon works with have been damaged by neglect and abuse. Some have been addicted to heroin; many have lived on the streets with nobody other than a gang to protect and care for them. Getting young people from such harsh backgrounds into training and jobs, and keeping them there, is quite a challenge.

So here's the dilemma that we face: if we chose to work with only those kids who are highly motivated, well behaved, and eager to learn, we could have a terrific success rate for all the world to see. But doing so means turning our backs on kids who have lived on the streets for years, run away from abusive families, and find relief in addiction and crime.

A social enterprise simply cannot work with kids from the latter group. How can a training restaurant operate with waiters who are in the habit of violently attacking anyone who criticises them, or with cooks who have never followed rules before in their lives?

But surely kids from such backgrounds also need some kind of program to at least offer them a chance at change.

This is what Blue Dragon does. Any young person who wants some help can come and talk to us, and have the chance to get back to school or find a job. Even those who have failed, again and again.

Over time, we have seen kids succeed when nobody thought they could. We've also seen kids who appeared to be doing really well suddenly fall away, lured by fast money or the excitement of the streets.

During the past week, we had to make the very difficult decision to send away two teenage boys who have been living in our Hanoi residence. Both have been with us for some years, and although they both made good progress in the past, neither has been working or studying for the past few months, despite their many promises and commitments to make a better effort. They've been having a great time in our house, but they haven't been keeping up their end of the bargain - to study, to learn, to prepare to be independent of us.

Friday night was their first night away from Blue Dragon for a very long time. And I think it came as a huge shock to them.

But for each of them, this is not the end. They were both at the rollerskating rink on Saturday afternoon, knowing that they'd see the other kids and me there. As I was leaving, one rolled up to me and asked to see me on Sunday morning. We'll see how that goes.

It hurts terribly to have to send kids away, to tell them that we can't help any more. I'm just hoping it will cause both of them to realise that they, too, have a duty and that they need to be making an effort.

We've seen plenty of young people in the past turnaround when nobody thought it possible. This is the strength of the way Blue Dragon works with street kids. There's always another chance; we just need the kids to make a comeback on their own, and we'll be right there waiting for them.


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Dead man swimming

I'm going to have to revise the comment in my last blog, in which I said that the week finished up much better than it started. There was a rather sudden and unusual turn of events on Sunday afternoon, when I took the kids from our residential home to the swimming pool.

We take the kids swimming a lot - not only as recreation, but also to teach them the skill of swimming. Drowning is a major cause of death here in Vietnam, and on top of that very few people know CPR. Because of this, we have invested a lot of time in teaching our kids and staff some first aid, and just a couple of months back we also ran a CPR course over a weekend.

On Sunday we were at the pool as usual, and one of our older kids noticed a man floating face down in the water - so he dived in, realised the guy wasn't kidding around, and pulled him out. Lifeguards were called, but they didn't seem to know any CPR, and the attempt at resuscitation that followed was fairly futile. A foreign man who was also swimming there knew a bit more than the pool staff, but I think the man had had a heart attack, and CPR probably wasn't much help anyway. An ambulance was called, but they didn't arrive until I was leaving, about half an hour later.

So our weekend frolic at the pool ended in our kids watching a man die. His wife and their young child were with him, so there were some traumatic scenes.

Given this awful situation to be in, I was really proud of the Blue Dragon kids. Because of the tough lives that they have lived, the local community often stereotypes them and can be extraordinarily harsh on them. Our kids get blamed for pretty much anything that happens, but the reality is that they stand head and shoulders above their peers as well as their elders.

The Blue Dragon boy who saw this man in the water was the one to dive in to see if he was OK; he was also the one to call for help and start the CPR process. And while another group of teens at the pool were laughing and joking about the great excitement of it all, our kids stood back quietly, worried to see this unfold about them, looking to me in the hope that I could help.

In the end all I could do was round our kids up and get them back to their home. Another of our staff came to meet us, to talk through what had happened and make sure they weren't traumatised by what had happened. Vietnamese people are big believers in ghosts and superstition, so I wasn't sure what the kids would be thinking - or fearing - after this. Two of the boys who were there lost their own younger brother in a drowning incident a few years ago.

But despite it all they seemed fine: shocked to see how easily and quickly life can be extinguished, as was I, but that's only to be expected. Another tough life lesson, but once again I have reason to be proud of the Blue Dragon children.


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Look into my eyes

While the summer holidays roll on, we've taken the chance to get our kids down to the local eye hospital for check ups. (Summer is FUN at Blue Dragon!) The kids with disabilities who we support are usually at their special schools all day every day, so the summer break is the only time to do things like this.



A few people wrote to me through the week to say "hope things get better" after my less-than-cheerful blog on Monday. Actually things got worse before they got better - but they did get better and I'm really enjoying the weekend. Saturdays and Sundays are great for hanging out with the kids at the soccer, rollerskating, and swimming pool, so it doesn't at all feel like work and I get to see some sunshine!


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Mummy dish day

While the school holidays are on, Blue Dragon staff are organising lots of extra activities for the kids who are coming to hang out at our centre.

The challenge is to not just organise fun games, but to make sure the kids are learning along the way... and that's not just 'school learning', but also life skills, and learning about nutrition and health.

One of the coolest activities running at the moment is "Mummy dish day," which is being held every Friday afternoon. One of our social workers, Phuong, has been organising this: it's an event just for the kids with disabilities, who we don't see much of during the school year as they're all off at special schools and facilities.

"Mummy dish day" is a chance for one parent each week to come along and teach the children how to make one or two dishes. Last Friday the kids were making che when I walked in - a sweet liquid dessert famous in Vietnam - and without a doubt, the eating was at least as much fun as the cooking.

The pictures below show some of the kids learning with a mum (in the black shirt). Such a simple activity, but a great way to help the disabled kids develop some skills while also giving their parents a chance to shine!




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Hard to blog

After a flurry of blogging a few months back, I've fallen into a lull - so much to write about, but no idea where to start!

When I set out to create this blog back in 2005, my idea was to create a direct and immediate line of communication between me here in Hanoi, and the supporters and friends of Blue Dragon all around the world. I wanted to let them know what was going on in our big family of street kids.

It's turned out that the process of writing each blog has become a kind of therapy for me. I'm forced to ask what I really think and believe; and quite often the very act of writing helps me to understand myself a little better.

At other times, though, I am so lost that I don't even know where to start.

For any foreigner living in Vietnam, life can be a little on the crazy side every day; but working with street kids, and being involved in the lives of people who've been trafficked / abused / arrested / tortured... well, that takes the craziness to a whole new level.

I often feel that life is out of control: anything can happen, at any time. Sure, that's roughly true everywhere in the world; but here, the range of 'anything can happen' is a little broader. Here are some insights into events just in the past 7 days:

- a complete stranger rides his motorbike up to me outside the Blue Dragon residence (where up to 17 very needy teenagers live) and says: "Hi, I just bought this building so I'm the new landlord. Now I'd like to see your rental contract." We didn't even know the building was for sale, and now we don't know if our 5 year contract on the house will be honoured, or if we need to start looking for a new home!

- I receive a phone call that one of the teens from Blue Dragon has been in a motorbike accident, and he's either dead or in hospital. (Two people were involved in the accident, and one had died; but the police were not sure who was who). Would I mind going down to the hospital to work out if the Blue Dragon kid is dead or alive? (He was alive).

- a staff member rings in to announce that she's quitting, and she's never coming back. The next day, she rings in to apologise and ask if she can come back to work.

- a 14 year old boy calls me to say he plans to go to the Chinese border, as he's been invited to join a gang of thieves that promises to help him earn at least $1000 within a few months. Despite my warnings, he goes - but he's back within 36 hours as his best friend has been arrested. Oh, and would I help with some money for the friend to pay a fine?

- the Thai Embassy in Hanoi invites us to nominate two of our older kids to travel to Thailand for a study tour; we select two teens, a boy and a girl, who are excited beyond belief at the chance! But completely out of nowhere, the father of the boy - who I can honestly say has done nothing for his son in the 4 years that I have known him - decides that Thailand is far too dangerous a destination, and forbids his son from going. The boy is devastated, as are we.

I could go on... but you get the picture. Life here is anything but boring, but sometimes the constant curve balls from left field become overwhelming.

In the midst of all these events (which, I should add, are considered pretty ordinary around the Blue Dragon HQ) we're preparing budgets for the coming 12 months, developing program and fundraising plans, and analysing our finances from the past year. It strikes me that there appears to be a massive disconnect between the 'formal' side of my work as the Director of an NGO, and the blow-by-blow reality of my life.

But is there really a huge gap between the two - or are they just different faces of the one coin?

I think it's the latter, but with my head still spinning from the events of the day I don't think I can reach any logical conclusions. I'll just wait for the world to slow down and get back to blogging about something that I can get my mind around.


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A farewell, and a new beginning

The kids and staff at Blue Dragon's Hanoi drop-in centre have farewelled a much-loved volunteer, Kathryn Freeman, who has been with us for the past 12 months coordinating our street children program.

Kathryn originally came to us as an Australian Business Volunteer for about 6 weeks, but then applied to return for a year-long stint as an Australian Youth Ambassador. She's been simply amazing, helping us to improve our work significantly. We'll miss you, Kathryn - stay in touch!

Our work in central Vietnam, rescuing children who have been trafficked to Ho Chi Minh City, has been running very well with the help of another volunteer, Skye Maconachie, whose drama program with 'returned children' is being documented in this blog.

A sudden turn of events late last week could signal some challenging weeks ahead, though. A family contacted our staff to say that their 14 year old son is being abused in a garment factory, working as an unpaid slave, and the boss won't let him go home without a payment of 13 million dong - that's about $760 US. The family would be lucky to earn that amount in 2 years.

As we investigated the case, the factory owner stood firm for a while but then let the boy go. He wasn't paid anything at all for his months of labour, and he was warned not to tell anyone about his experiences. But now that the boy is home, he has told us that the factory has many children... all from a village we have never been to before.

We're yet to gather all the facts, but there's some urgency to this as the boss appears to be fairly brutal. I am hoping we can gather enough information for the police to act on this one sooner rather than later...


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Bits and pieces

The last week or so has been quite busy... apologies for not posting much lately!

- While I was in Ho Chi Minh City last week I met up with street kids around the tourist area of District 1. Some of the kids were tiny... one little girl was just 9 years old. A whole troupe of small children had come to the city from Thanh Hoa province, which is close to Hanoi; this is usually a 'red flag' for child trafficking. The kids seemed to be there to work for the summer holidays, so my staff and I plan to go visit them when they are back in their village in September. Perhaps we can get to the bottom of this and prevent it happening again in the future.


- Kids from the Hoi An Children's Home have just come back from a camping trip with, apparently, about 1000 other disadvantaged youth from around Vietnam. Sounds like they had a great time!








- About 30 children with disabilities - along with their parents, Blue Dragon staff, and a host of volunteers - went on an overnight trip to Halong Bay late last week. We organised a similar trip last year, and given the sheer joy expressed by all the kids we had to do it again. These children and their families never, ever get out of Hanoi. We made sure the parents had a morning to themselves, too, so they could have a break from looking after their children for a few hours.






- Back in April I wrote this blog in which I mentioned one of our boys, Truong, and the 'typical' teenage issue of working out what he wants to do with his life. A surprising update - Truong has just started a 3 month course in sales and marketing! So far, he's all smiles.



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Newsletter time

The quarterly Blue Dragon newsletter was sent out last week... if you want to receive a copy just email Amy at: info@bdcf.org.

I'm in Ho Chi Minh City at the moment, and heading back to Hanoi tomorrow. I've been catching up with some of the street kids Blue Dragon helps here, and seeing what more we might be able to do...

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In training

Summer has hit Vietnam! Apart from sweltering heat, this also means the Blue Dragon kids have a few weeks off school. (Summer break is normally 3 months, but most of our kids attend special schools, which for some cruel reason have shorter holidays).

So... we're taking the opportunity to run a football development program for street kids. Each Friday our staff are offering training workshops for the teenagers who live around an area of Hanoi called Phuc Tan, which is notorious for poverty, crime, and drug use.

This also gives us a chance to build stronger relationships with the kids - essential if we are to make any headway in getting them back to school and jobs.

Here are some pics from the first week...

Tho, standing in the centre, is Blue Dragon's
IT coordinator-cum-football coach.

In the midst of an activity...

This guy's hairdresser missed a bit!

... and here's the team in their uniform.

We're really lucky that the British Council's Premier Skills program helped out with the uniforms, and the field managers have cut the price of field rental in half. Makes it all a bit more affordable.


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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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Hard at work

This article appeared in the Vietnam News this week, with some facts and figures about child labour.

An interesting read, if you have 5 minutes...


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A big day in Hoi An

Monday June 1st was Children's Day in Vietnam, and the kids at the Hoi An Children's Home were treated to a terrific morning - not only for Children's Day, but to mark the end of the school year.

Here are some images of their celebrations...

Eating 'che' (a liquid dessert) blindfolded - followed by
an hour of washing clothes, I presume!

The Home has a huge yard - perfect for Tug o' War...

Here's a video clip of some general insanity.

In the formal part of the day, awards were presented.
Thao's award is for "Best All-Round Resident"


Dan's award is for being the most helpful around the Home.
Both of these awards were decided by a vote among the kids.

And there were gifts!

Here, the boys are showing off the football shirts
they received - donated by Tanglin Trust school in Singapore.

So, a great day for the kids and a nice way to end the school year. This was an espcially important day for the 5 students who are finishing Grade 12, and will soon be leaving the Home for university and work.


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Exam time!

Year 12 exams have started throughout Vietnam this morning - first exam is literature, commencing 7.30 am! (Who sets an exam for 7.30 am??)

There are lots of Blue Dragon kids in Year 12 this year - about 35 I think! - so we've had a few stressed teenagers around the place recently.

From our Hanoi centre, some of the kids sitting for their exams today are:

Hanh - our 'resident artist' whose paintings feature on the gift cards we sell at Christmas

Chinh - a former shoeshine boy who has lived in our residence for several years

Ngoc - the singer and dancer who was stabbed in late 2007 but made an extraordinary comeback

Hieu - a very bright girl with cerebral palsy, who has defied the odds to stay at school and do extremely well

There are 2 exams per day for 3 days, so come Thursday night it will be all over. Then the study for uni entrance exams will begin...


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The drama continues

Skye Maconachie, who is organising the theatre workshops for trafficked children in Hue, has created her own blog: The Right to Shine.

This should be interesting - check it out...


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