The year of the dragon
December 18, 2024
As our 20th birthday year draws to a close, we’d like to share some of the ups and downs of 2024 at Blue Dragon.
- Stories of the Dragon
With this being Blue Dragon’s 20th birthday, we’ve been sharing stories throughout the year of young people we helped in the past and where they are now. If you’re looking for some year-end reading, we recommend pulling up a comfortable chair and losing yourself in these inspiring, uplifting stories.
Born into hardship, this year Nhung started a full scholarship to study international business.
- A surge in rescues
At the start of the year, we never know how many calls for help we’re going to receive from people trapped in slavery. What we do know is that we aim to respond to every call that reaches us. This year, we’ve rescued 330 children, women and men from brothels, forced labour, organ trafficking, and forced “marriages”. That’s almost one person rescued every day of the year.
We rescued Lan and Vua, 19-year-old best friends, after searching for them for five years.
- New places, new opportunities
2024 has seen Blue Dragon’s expansion into Ho Chi Minh City and two provinces: Nghe An (in the north-central region) and Bac Lieu (in the Mekong Delta). This means new opportunities to help children, families and communities impacted by homelessness and human trafficking. We’re still very much in start-up mode in each location, but growing rapidly so we can meet the needs of the people.
- Safer streets
Blue Dragon assists street children in Hanoi, where we started our work 20 years ago, and now also Ho Chi Minh City. This year we gave assistance to more than 400 girls and boys, including emergency shelter, education, food and psychological therapy. Daily (and nightly) street outreach is core to this important work. We don’t wait for the kids to find us; we go in search of those who need a hand.
A Blue Dragon social worker assisting street kids.
- The power of community
Over and over again, Blue Dragon’s global community shows how much is possible when we work together for the good of the world.
When the biggest typhoon to ever hit northern Vietnam claimed hundreds of lives in parts of the country that rarely see such disaster, Blue Dragon supporters responded by donating over $800,000. This delivered emergency relief while flood waters were still rising and is now rebuilding homes and getting families back to economic independence with farms and small businesses.
And the annual Blue Dragon Walk was another moment to show unity for the children of Vietnam. More than 3,000 people came together to raise money and show solidarity in 32 countries. Every person who took part and all who donated deserve a special thanks, as do the Intrepid Foundation and APT Travel who partnered with us to create the event.
To everyone who held their own fundraiser, or made a donation, or volunteered their time: Thank you. Your support is making a real difference in the lives of children here in Vietnam.
This year, Blue Dragon’s work has touched the lives of more than 40,000 children and disadvantaged family members. That’s only been possible because of people like you, answering our calls for help, donating what you can, and helping out with your time and goodwill.
