Double lives
One summer morning at the Blue Dragon centre in Ho Chi Minh City, five-year-old Bong was dancing and waving yellow flowers above her head.
In the next room, her brother Rua was eating fresh fruit and chatting with his friends. He was very excited after just finishing an English class.
Upstairs, their older sister Yen was taking part in an art session, drawing colourful pictures and listening to relaxing music with other teens.
Seeing Bong, Rua and Yen in this environment, you would never guess that they used to sleep beside roads and under bridges, and still spend most days walking the streets collecting scrap from sunrise to sunset.
Bong dancing with yellow flowers at the Blue Dragon centre.
Rua is happy with his fresh fruit.
Yen enjoying an art session.
The fall
Bong, Rua and Yen’s mother, Oanh, grew up in the countryside before moving to a small town to start a family with her husband. They earned a steady income by running a restaurant on the ground floor of their home, and they planned to stay there while their children grew up and went to school.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and all their plans unravelled. Shortly after Oanh took the children back to her home village to see out the lockdowns, she heard that her husband had died.
With the restaurant closed and her husband gone, Oanh looked for new ways to earn money. But when the lockdowns eased and school resumed, she had nothing. Desperate, she took her children to Ho Chi Minh City, where they slept rough and sold lottery tickets on the streets.
One day, they met a homeless man who had lost his job during the pandemic, and they decided to stick together. Some kind strangers gave them a pushcart, and from then on the five of them made a living collecting scrap from the streets and selling it to recycling centres.
Rua sleeping in his family’s scrap cart.
Oanh and her children talking with a Blue Dragon social worker.
Oanh’s family under the bridge where they used to sleep.
The rise
One Christmas eve morning, Blue Dragon social worker Tuan was on his way to work when he spotted Oanh’s family sleeping under a bridge. He parked his bike at the roadside and started a conversation with them.
Just a few days later, Tuan happened to meet Oanh’s family again as they were collecting scrap one evening. He spent time chatting to Oanh and her partner, playing with the kids and telling them about Blue Dragon.
When Oanh brought her kids to the Blue Dragon centre the next day, they never wanted to leave. Since that morning, Bong, Rua and Yen have come back several times a week to learn and play in a safe space.
Bong always brings lots of energy. Her favourite activities are dancing and art classes, and she loves playing games with her friends. Like her little sister, Yen loves art, and has recently shown real talent for photography. She often looks like the resident photographer, walking around taking shots of other children joining activities. Rua is more relaxed and withdrawn than his sisters, preferring quieter activities like chess. He loves joking with the social workers, often pretending to shake their hand, only to coolly run his hand through his hair at the last moment.
Tuan shares:
“You can see that the three siblings love each other so much. Even though they’ve experienced loss and hardship, they are always really gentle in the way they communicate with other kids and staff.”
Among all their different passions and personality quirks, there is one thing Bong, Rua and Yen have in common: the Blue Dragon centre is a refuge where they can express themselves and find joy in things they love.
Bong studying English.
Bong playing.
Yen taking photos at the Blue Dragon centre.
Yen proudly showing her art.
Rua playing chess with a social worker.
Rua enjoying English class.
The resolve
Shortly after meeting Oanh’s family, we found them a safe home with space for the kids to study and play. We’re providing them with food and daily necessities as we work on a long-term plan, including helping Oanh and her partner to set up a small business selling food.
Right now, the whole family is doing everything they can to make sure that their long-term plan goes smoothly.
“The whole family is so proactive,” shares Tuan, the social worker who first found Oanh’s family on the streets. “They have a strong desire to build a stable life so that the children can thrive. They want so much to be independent, to work for themselves and find their own way in life.”
Oanh knows that to give her children the best chance to thrive, she needs to be the best parent she can be. That’s why she joins a monthly sharing circle for parents and guardians at the Blue Dragon centre.
“The goal is for them to have opportunities to share and learn from one another,” shares a Blue Dragon social worker who runs the sessions. “Through this, they can feel the constant assurance that they are not alone.”
A Blue Dragon social worker taking Oanh’s family to buy new essentials.
Oanh’s family in their new home.
Oanh (left, in the black jacket) at a parents’ sharing circle.
The reach
When they’re not at the Blue Dragon centre, Oanh’s family still spends most of their time collecting scrap from the streets to earn as much money as possible. It’s hard work, but Oanh has always worked hard.
When she and her husband ran the restaurant from their old home, she worked seven days a week to give her children a good life. When that dream was cruelly taken from her, she found new ways to keep pushing for a better life – and now that life is almost within her grasp.
With their unrelenting resolve and the support of the global Blue Dragon community, soon Oanh’s family will leave scrap collecting behind and reach their dream.
Bong smiling at the Blue Dragon centre.
