Blue Dragon Is Expanding To Ho Chi Minh City

After 20 years providing rescue and comprehensive assistance to vulnerable youth and families in Hanoi, Blue Dragon is expanding to Ho Chi Minh City.

Compelled to Help

In partnership with the city’s Association for the Protection of Child Rights, Blue Dragon will work to protect impoverished youth in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) by assisting vulnerable youth and families directly on the streets.

We will provide holistic care in the form of safe accommodation, nutritious meals, and access to education, training and jobs. We will reunite children with their families and enable parents to build stable livelihoods. 

Blue Dragon’s co-CEO Do Duy Vi was present at the launch event that marked the start of the program in HCMC.

“We’ve been increasingly receiving calls to help children in Ho Chi Minh City,” said Vi, referencing the increase in vulnerable children on the streets of the southern city since the COVID-19 pandemic. “We couldn’t ignore the issue. We felt compelled to help.”

Street kids in Ho Chi Minh City

Goals

“Our aim is to rescue as many kids as possible and get them back to school. Our goal is to break down all the barriers they face. Providing them with a safe place to sleep, paperwork, school… We aim to ensure they are safe and, whenever possible, we want to reunite kids with their families,” said Vi.

With our two decades of experience of working with street children in Hanoi, we are looking forward to joining those already working in Ho Chi Minh City. 

Alongside the incredible charities and agencies who are already working in the city, we expect to assist around 200 vulnerable children in HCMC every year. 

Over the next five years, we aim to provide direct assistance to 1,000 children and youth, improve the financial capacity of 2,500 parents and caregivers through livelihood development initiatives, and to provide funding, technical skills and knowledge to contribute to the strengthening of the child protection system in the city.

We have a dedicated team of social workers looking for kids who need help 

The Right to Shine

At Blue Dragon, we treat every child we help as if they were part of our own family, because we believe that every child has the right to grow and thrive. 

By expanding our operations to Vietnam’s most populous city, we will empower many more children to realise their potential and follow their passions, just like we have been doing for two decades in Hanoi.

“Unfortunately, not every child has the opportunity,” says Vi. “But we can all make a difference by working together to help children and their families to have the opportunities they need to shine and thrive, just like we all want for our own children.”