Start-up mode all over again

Blue Dragon’s 20th birthday is drawing to an end. But rather than be satisfied with what we’ve achieved, 2024 has been a year of new beginnings.

I look back on Blue Dragon’s early days with a mix of nostalgia and relief.

Nostalgia because they were simpler times. We had no staff and no money; and everyone’s expectations of us were very low!

Which brings me to relief. Having no staff, no money, and very few people to believe in us meant that everything had to be done from scratch. The hard way.

So after 20 years, you might think we’d be content to take it a bit easier now. We’ve made tremendous progress, worked out how to get things done, and have some impressive achievements to our name.

But ‘taking it easy’ isn’t in our blood.

In fact, as 2024 nears an end – and with it Blue Dragon’s 20th birthday – our signature achievements this year are the new journeys we’ve begun.

Ho Chi Minh City

After 20 years of assisting Hanoi’s street kids, Blue Dragon has now started operations in Vietnam’s southern megacity.

We have a small team who goes out onto the city streets offering assistance to children and families sleeping rough.

While we do that, we’re working with other agencies who are already established in Ho Chi Minh City to see how we can help the whole system work better.

Our 20 years of helping Hanoi’s street kids has taught us a great deal. The Ho Chi Minh City operation has the benefit of the principles and philosophy we’ve developed; our ‘whole stream‘ strategy and belief in ‘massive interventions‘.

But beyond that, we’re beginners.

Street kids in Ho Chi Minh City are different to the kids in Hanoi. They’re on the streets for different reasons. The work they do to earn money is different.

There are many cultural differences, too, and of course many different agencies and nonprofits who are involved.

So far from resting on our laurels, we’re back in ‘start-up’ mode, creating a new wave of change in the country’s largest city. The year ahead will be one of scaling up to meet the need and expanding our reach.

Nghe An

Far from the colorful streets of Ho Chi Minh City, the province of Nghe An is better known for its harsh landscape and remote, rugged mountains.

Over the years Blue Dragon has worked here on and off. Many of the people we rescue from human trafficking grew up in Nghe An, and many of the cases we represent in court take place here.

In 2024, we took the step of starting up in the province on a more permanent basis. The strategy to prevent human trafficking that’s been working well in other parts of the country is now being brought to the mountains of Nghe An.

We’re working in a very isolated region that is usually overlooked for support because of its remoteness. And that’s exactly why we need to be there – to go that extra step further where we’re really needed.

Always more

The problem that every charity faces is that there’s always so much more we could do.

To succeed, we have to choose carefully where to put our money and our time. The decisions that we make have an impact on the lives and wellbeing of many. When it comes to human trafficking, these decisions can even be life and death.

I’m excited that as our 20th year comes to an end, we have these new beginnings awaiting us. There’s so much opportunity to help more people and learn more about how to effectively end human trafficking.

Being in start-up mode is never easy. But it brings the potential for real, lasting change.

And that’s what Blue Dragon is here for.

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