This month, in the mountains of northern Vietnam, Blue Dragon has been training community leaders and teachers to stay safe from human trafficking.
In remote ethnic minority communities, where the mainstream Vietnamese language isn’t widely spoken, access to information that keeps people safe from human trafficking is limited. Such communities are also some of the most vulnerable to falling victim to this crime.
An important part of Blue Dragon’s ongoing work is educating communities in Vietnam about human trafficking. This month in northern Ha Giang province, around 40 community leaders, including local officials, social workers and police officers, from across the province joined Blue Dragon anti-trafficking coordinator, Thuan.
“These training sessions are so important for preventing human trafficking,” says Thuan. “Local leaders share knowledge throughout their communities. By showing them how to teach others about what human trafficking is and how to prevent it, many hundreds of people will gain this knowledge.”
Like all tight-knit communities, this group of community figureheads want the people they feel responsible for to be safe. One of these figures, Nam, said, “I am very proud to have taken part in the sessions. They gave me a deeper understanding of how to combat human trafficking in my village. I’m excited to help my neighbours stay safe.”
Participants had many opportunities to actively learn
Learning Through Play
As well as community leaders, teachers play a critical role in the fight against human trafficking. This month, 30 teachers gathered to learn about anti-trafficking techniques and cyber safety. Significantly, they also shared ideas on how to effectively teach this to children.
“When it comes to training teachers,” says Chuyen, Blue Dragon’s expert in the field, “the task isn’t so much about anti-human trafficking education. Instead, we focus on giving teachers fun and engaging methods that teach children how to keep themselves safe.”
A key part of this is the concept of learning through play. “By making lessons engaging and fun, students are more likely to take on board what they learn. With this approach, we see students participate enthusiastically.” says Chuyen.
From this training, a whole crop of teachers, responsible for the education of hundreds of students each, left confident in how to deliver anti-human trafficking lessons to their students in an effective and memorable way.
“I’ve heard a lot about the method of learning through play,” says Anh, a teacher who attended the workshop, “but I haven’t been able to design a lesson because I didn’t understand the method well. Now I am confident I can teach fun classes for my students which still give them knowledge on anti-trafficking.”
There are many tactics needed to end human trafficking. Quietly educating the communities that victims are most likely to come from is unlikely to attract front page headlines, but it is crucial to winning the fight against human trafficking.
A student taking part in practice session for teachers
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