Decades of work, immediate response and lasting change for a boy named Binh

The effectiveness of Blue Dragon’s Typhoon Yagi relief effort is about much more than our immediate response.

We have been making vulnerable communities more resilient for 20 years, enabling them to look after themselves in the face of just such a crisis.

For a boy named Binh, it was one of our Anti-Trafficking Boards that helped him to emerge from Typhoon Yagi more hopeful of a bright future than ever before.

An Anti-Trafficking Board meeting at a community centre in the northern mountains

Alone 

Seven-year-old Binh lived alone in a house under a bridge before the typhoon hit. He is estranged from his father, and his mother moved far away in search of work to support him. Binh has no idea when or if she will ever come back.

Binh owned one set of clothes: an old football kit and a pair of worn out sandals, which he wore day after day as he collected scrap to sell to recycling centres. Alone, tired and hungry, he survived on leftover food from his neighbours.

Amazingly, Binh was still doing his best to go to school every day. But the constant struggle to find enough food to survive began to take its toll, and his teachers feared he was on the verge of dropping out.

“We were very worried about Binh,” said his teacher. “He was beginning to miss more and more classes as the days went by, so we constantly encouraged him to come to school, but it was difficult.”

Things looked set to become even more difficult as news broke that a super typhoon was approaching.

Binh had nothing but an old football kit and some worn out sandals

Anti-Trafficking Board

Just before Typhoon Yagi hit Binh’s village, an Anti-Trafficking Board in his area, set up by Blue Dragon, became aware of his ordeal.

Anti-Trafficking Boards are run by community leaders. We give them expert insight into the latest anti-human trafficking practices, which they use to protect their communities through workshops, meetings, and looking out for vulnerable children like Binh.

The Anti-Trafficking Board that found Binh covers more than 20 villages in the area, and roughly half of the people there are living in poverty. Still, Binh’s story stood out to them as particularly traumatic.

“We have been working with a lot of kids now, but Binh’s case is the most heartbreaking one for us,” shared Viet, a senior member of the Anti-Trafficking Board that found Binh. “He’s way too young to be living on his own. Being parents ourselves, it’s heartbreaking to see him in such a situation.”

Viet and his fellow board members recognised that Binh’s makeshift house was at high risk of washing away in the storm. After speaking to Binh, they learned that he had an aunt in a neighbouring village.

As the weather began to turn, they took Binh to his aunt’s house.

The skies begin to darken as Typhoon Yagi approaches

The storm

Binh’s aunt, who suffers from poor mobility, lived alone in a small bamboo hut with a rusted iron roof. Her kitchen supplies amounted to nothing more than a plastic bowl, a small saucepan and a fire pit.

Together, she and Binh tied down the few belongings they had and huddled into a corner of the room as the rain pounded and the walls shook.

“I was scared and didn’t know where else we could go to find shelter,” shared Binh’s aunt. “I have no other relatives. All I could do was sit in a corner of the house with Binh and silently pray for the rain to stop and the flood to not come. If our food and belongings were swept away, I wouldn’t have the money to buy more, and I couldn’t possibly afford to rebuild the house if it was destroyed.”

After hours of worrying, Binh, his aunt and their house came through the storm unscathed.

Binh’s aunt’s home held up in the storm

“Can you take me to school now?” 

The Anti-Trafficking Board notified us of Binh’s story, and as the rains cleared we travelled over flooded mountain paths to reach him.

While Binh and his aunt were unharmed, it was clear they needed our support. After providing them with food and supplies, we began to work out how best to support them going forward.

We stocked their house with pots, pans and bedding. Then we made sure that Binh had new clothes, a rucksack, stationery and notebooks as he headed back to school.

“Now that Binh is receiving Blue Dragon’s support,” shared Binh’s aunt, “he can focus on his studies and attend school regularly without having to skip classes to earn a living”.

Binh hasn’t missed a single lesson since the storm. He has asked his teachers to let him sit near the front of the classroom so that he can hear everything clearly and ask questions when he doesn’t understand something.

When we visited Binh to give him a Mid-Autumn Festival gift, he smiled wide before asking: “Can you take me to school now? I really want to get there early so I don’t miss any class today!”

Binh and his aunt with nutritious food supplies

Hand in hand 

Binh’s story shows the importance of community empowerment. By enabling his community to look after itself with the formation of an Anti-Trafficking Board, Binh is now safe, more resilient and more hopeful of a bright future than ever before.

Through decades of careful planning and an all-encompassing approach to ending human trafficking, we are able to respond immediately and bring lasting change to people who need it most.

Binh is all smiles and ready for school in his new clothes