Oanh: cooking up dreams beside the sea
When Oanh’s mother told her that she’d have to drop out of school, she cried until her tears ran dry. Then she met Blue Dragon, turned her life around and followed her dreams – with a few twists along the way.
Dragon fly
On the small island where Oanh was born, there is an old myth that children learn to swim when a dragonfly bites their belly button.
“All of the children from my island can just swim. I don’t think any of us can remember at what age we learnt. We do it right from when we’re born.”
Unfortunately, Oanh’s family had trouble just keeping their heads above water. Her father left when she was three. Shortly after, her mother developed a chronic illness that made it difficult for her to work.
Though Oanh dreamed of becoming a teacher, it looked like she would have to drop out of school altogether.
Too much, too young
Oanh took it upon herself to start bringing in the money her family needed to stay clothed and fed. She sold souvenirs on the small island streets and collected scrap to sell at recycling centres.
Every day, Oanh turned up to school and fought through her exhaustion to study as hard as she could. After the bell rang and other children went home, she took to the streets and worked until after dark, knowing that one day all her effort would be worth it – her dream would come true and she would follow in the footsteps of the teachers she admired so much.
But no matter how hard Oanh worked, her family fell deeper into poverty with each passing day. Finally came the moment she had been dreading for so long: her mother told her that they were unable to pay her school fees and that she would have to drop out.
Oanh doesn’t remember how long she cried for. All that hard work earning money – all the exhaustion and the pain – and still it wasn’t enough. Her dream was never going to come true.
Storm clouds gathered over Oanh’s dreams.
The mainland
Then a lifeline emerged. When one of Oanh’s neighbour’s learned of her situation, she told her about Blue Dragon and that we might be able to help her stay in school.
At the time, we were managing a centre in Hoi An, a coastal town not far from Oanh’s island.
Oanh spent sleepless nights wrestling with the decision. If she went to Hoi An, she would be leaving her mother. But maybe – just maybe – she would get the chance to follow her dreams and give her family the life she wanted for them.
With sadness and hope in her heart, Oanh boarded a boat and set sail for the mainland. What she found there would change her life forever.
“It’s hard to say just how lucky and thankful I feel to everyone at Blue Dragon, because if I’d never met them, my life would be so, so different.”
Hope on the horizon.
One big family
Oanh’s decision to move to the mainland and live in a group home with other disadvantaged teens holds a special place in her memory, full of birthday parties, group dinners, evening UNO sessions and late night chats with her new friends.
Nicole, who helped run the centre, remembers Oanh very fondly. “She was so determined. She knew her own mind and had an infectious mischievousness.”
We supported Oanh to stay in school while teaching her life skills like time and money management, leadership and cooking. Oanh loved learning new recipes and trying new dishes, and often helped the kitchen staff to prepare meals. But Oanh’s most vivid memory is just the feeling of being safe and cared for as part of a big family.
“At Blue Dragon I got so many more brothers and sisters – other kids and staff members. We were wild kids. Sometimes we didn’t listen. We argued and did crazy things. But everyone at Blue Dragon was so patient and understanding and never gave up on us, just like one big family.”
Dreams change
The longer Oanh stayed at Blue Dragon, the more she thought about what she wanted to do with her future. While she’d spent her childhood dreaming of becoming a teacher, she began to realign her priorities as she matured.
More than any specific career path, what Oanh really wanted was to make sure that her mother, who continued to battle with illness, would never need to work again.
With this in mind, Oanh decided to capitalise on one of Hoi An’s most lucrative fields: tourism. After she graduated from school, Blue Dragon supported her to enroll in a tourism course at a college in Da Nang city.
Oanh graduated with flying colours and found a job back on the island where she grew up. This time, she didn’t just swim in the sea, she went snorkelling and scuba diving for the first time, meeting people from all over the world and sharing stories with the English skills she learnt at Blue Dragon.
Oanh loves teaching people about Vietnam’s rich history and culture.
Dreams change back
After a few years working as a tour guide, Oanh decided to combine her professional experience and the culinary skills she learnt at Blue Dragon with her childhood dream. She moved back to Hoi An and started a new career as a cooking instructor.
“I love teaching so much. I teach people from all over the world about Vietnamese culture, history, food… I’m so happy.”
What’s more, Oanh is now married with two young children. She is able to give them the kind of childhood that she could only dream of, and earns enough money to make sure her mother doesn’t have to spend her old age battling through illness just to scrape a living.
After all her hard work – all the pain, the tears and the twists in her journey as she fought to achieve her dream – Oanh wants other children from similar backgrounds to know they can lead rich, fulfilling lives too.
“Try your best because we are not like other kids. We are kids from poor villages. We are kids with troubles. If we want to change our lives, we have to try so hard every day – not just for us but for our families. If I can do it, you can do it too. You don’t have to shoot for the stars. Just do something simple, something that suits you, and you will find magic in it if you try.”
“Thank you Blue Dragon – thank you to all the sponsors, uncles, aunts, parents, brothers and sisters who are not related by blood but who have always helped me and shared with me. If it weren’t for all of you, I wouldn’t be here today.”
– Oanh
