Hope: Every day, every night
Every day and every night, Blue Dragon takes to the streets of Ho Chi Minh City offering assistance to vulnerable children and families.
On each outing, we find families begging and sleeping rough, children being forced to sell trinkets or entertain revellers in popular nightlife districts, and people living in makeshift homes – sometimes without food, water, or the legal documents they need to receive an education and basic healthcare.
Among the hardship there, are thousands of people who are determined to transform their lives and thrive. With Blue Dragon’s support, they finally can.
Read on to join Blue Dragon co-CEO Vi, and social workers Quyet, Tuan and Thang as they go through the highs and lows of a single night on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City – and get a glimpse of how, by working together, the Blue Dragon community brings hope to the darkest corners of life.
Vi
Quyet
Tuan
Thang
Vi hits the streets before meeting the team
Before meeting up with the team, Blue Dragon co-CEO, Vi, set out to check on some families he knows who are living on the streets. Having lived on the streets as a child, Vi knows firsthand the kind of dangers and obstacles people face when sleeping rough.
Vi’s first stop is a busy street corner where he often goes to catch up with a woman named Thuy who begs and collects scrap with her young granddaughter. Thuy’s face lit up as she saw Vi parking his bike beside her, and the two of them got straight into a long conversation.
Thuy told Vi what she’d gone through since they last spoke.
They chatted for a long time as Vi worked out the best way to support Thuy and her granddaughter.
After saying goodbye, Vi got back on his bike to look for more families in need.
Vi soon found a mother and daughter begging nearby, and pulled over to speak with them.
Vi spent a long time learning about this family’s situation – a vital step toward establishing trust.
After waving Vi off at his bike, the mother carried her daughter back to their spot.
Full team ahead!
At 8pm, Vi joined up with the rest of the team. After a quick debrief, they set out to meet a family living in a makeshift home on the edge of the city.
Vi made sure to go over the plan details with the team.
It was a long ride through the city.
Quyet and Thang are in constant discussion as they stop at a red light.
With 16 years experience helping street kids, Vi is a great role model for the team.
The scenery got more rural as the team approached their destination.
Minh and Cong’s family
Finally, the team arrived at the family’s home and parked their bikes. Blue Dragon met Minh and Cong last year while they were collecting scrap on the streets with their parents. After a long and complicated process, we helped them to get legal paperwork like birth certificates. With all their documents now in order, Minh and Cong can begin school for the first time in their lives.
After driving for several miles, Vi and the team finally arrived at the family’s home.
The makeshift home is at the end of a short corridor made of corrugated iron and scrap.
The family’s living area is just a few square metres, propped up by cardboard and signs collected from the streets.
Minh and Cong love playing with the team.
Minh and Cong showed off the words they’d been learning in preparation for starting school.
Minh and Cong’s mother offered a bottle of water to each member of the team.
“I’m excited to make new friends and learn a lot from my teachers!” – Minh.
Quang’s family
After waving goodbye to Minh and Cong, Vi received a call from a Blue Dragon supporter and left to assist vulnerable children and families in a different part of the city. The rest of the team headed out to check on another family who were collecting scrap on the streets.
While Thang drives, Quyet checks directions from the back. As families are constantly on the move while collecting scrap, it can be difficult to pinpoint their exact location.
The streets stay busy long into the night.
At every red light, the team confirms the plan and talks about the family they just met.
Finally, the team spotted Quang’s family on the other side of the road. They pulled over, took off their helmets and crossed the busy street.
The streets where the family works are dangerously busy with traffic.
Quang was really excited to see his Blue Dragon friends approaching!
As the team caught up with Quang’s parents, he broke into a joyous dance.
Quang kept smiling as he span, skipped and jumped over the street.
Unfortunately, Quang had no shoes and his feet were dirty.
Playing and laughing are important parts of catch ups like this.
Quang knows he can trust his Blue Dragon friends.
It was time to wave goodbye to Quang and his family as they set off in search of more scrap.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The team got back on their bikes and made for a major tourist area where child exploitation is common. Many children there are forced to breathe fire and sell flowers long into the night.
Riding back toward the bright lights of the city centre.
As Quyet looked after the bikes, Thang and Tuan explored the streets on foot, keeping an eye out for vulnerable children and families in need of Blue Dragon’s help.
A child selling trinkets.
Children walk up and down the same streets for hours every night.
A young girl selling roses among the nightlife.
Children are forced to entertain revellers by breathing fire, often swallowing gasoline, burning their hands and mouths, and staining their skin with soot.
Among the people Blue Dragon spoke to that night was a young mother selling roses with her baby. As this was Blue Dragon’s first time meeting her, the conversation centred on building trust and letting her know we’ll be there if she needs us.
HOME TIME
After making first contact with a few people among the nightlife, it was time for the team to head home and get some rest. The children selling trinkets and the woman with her baby might contact Blue Dragon again, and they might not. If they decide they are ready for us to support them, we will be there to help them turn their lives around and thrive – like Minh and Cong.
Shortly after this night, Minh and Cong had their first day of school – a huge step toward lifting their family out the poverty that has trapped them for generations.
Blue Dragon met up with Quang again a few days later to deliver his family food and supplies at their home. We are now supporting them to get legal paperwork for Quang and his siblings to begin school.
It often takes months or even years of all-round support to get a single child like Minh, Cong or Quang into school and on the road toward a bright future. From the first time we approach a child on the streets to the moment they are finally able to stand on their own two feet, the global Blue Dragon community is right behind them.
From Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and beyond, together we will make a world where every child is safe to thrive and follow their dreams.
Quyet, Tuan and Thang headed home to get some rest before doing it all again the next day.
