Dreaming beyond survival

How can kids who grow up in slavery or on the streets transform into thriving adults with bright futures?

The news from Blue Dragon last week was of both triumph and heartbreak.

After weeks of nail-biting planning and preparing, several rescue operations came to completion.

Most of the people we rescued had been enslaved in forced online scamming. These are compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos where people are forced, under threat of beatings and torture, to trick people out of their life savings using fake websites, phone messages and social media.

One of our rescues involved bringing home a 17-year-old girl from a brothel in Myanmar. She was held captive there for three years.

You can imagine the horrors she has been through.

Once each person is safe, Blue Dragon has lawyers to represent them, psychologists to provide trauma counseling and social workers to help them start over.

And while these operations were taking place, something equally transformative — but vastly different — was happening elsewhere.

Field trip

Thirteen kids from Blue Dragon traveled to Singapore to spend the week on a cultural and educational exchange. They were accompanied by staff and some of our alumni who went to support them.

The teens visited tourist sites, stayed in wonderful accommodation (thank you, Holiday Inn Express Suites Novena!), and spent time in the homes of families who live in Singapore.

The trip was funded by United World College SEA, whose students and teachers worked for a year to raise this money.

For all of the kids, this was their first time traveling abroad, staying in hotels, or even imagining a life outside Vietnam.

Seeing their awe at Singapore’s bustling streets and performing in front of an audience was a reminder of how far they’ve come—and how much potential lies within them.

Apart from having a great time, the Blue Dragon kids and the United World College students worked together to put on a grand performance at the end of the week.

Different worlds?

Moving from life-and-death rescue operations to cultural experiences in another country might seem worlds apart.

But Blue Dragon wants kids to hope for more than mere survival.

When we get kids off the street, or bring them home from slavery, we want them to have the world at their feet.

To have dreams and see what’s possible beyond their own horizon.

To live a life that they love, not one that’s simply free of extreme hardship.

We’ve been fortunate to have the chance to take kids to Singapore for some years. So we’ve seen the impact that experiences like these have on young people as they grow up.

What we find is that kids who are exposed to new possibilities are much more likely to pursue an education and a career.

Some even go on to study abroad, and many end up in jobs they would never have thought possible just a few years earlier.

These different parts of our work aren’t worlds apart at all. They’re simply different points on the spectrum of ending disadvantage and transforming lives.

The 13 kids have returned to Vietnam, exhausted from an intense week and buzzing with delight.

Their eyes have been opened to something they never imagined. They’ve made new friends and performed in public.

And most importantly: They’ve shown themselves that they are more than ‘survivors’.

They were offered a chance to shine. They took the opportunity. And they succeeded.

Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation is on a mission to end human trafficking.