Phi: From sleeping in a street food shack to leading a team of 20 graphic designers
Just as Phi had risen from his hardships to begin a new life of hope at Blue Dragon, he was struck down by a brutal illness that looked sure to take his life. But he rose again, thrived in his dream job and started giving back to kids like him.
A normal life
All Phi wanted was a normal childhood. But his parents, who were deep in legal troubles, walked in and out of his life time and again until they left him alone on the streets of Hanoi.
Phi found shelter with a family who owned a streetside food shack. He helped in the kitchen from morning until late at night, and slept on top of the table where they prepared food.
Then, in the space of two years, Phi learned that both of his parents had passed away. There was no one to comfort Phi, and people who knew about his parents’ legal troubles constantly reminded him that he was an outsider – that he came from a “bad” family and that he’d never have the normal life he wanted.
“Everyone treated me differently – like I was bad. Even friends and relatives were wary of helping me. It was torture to stand outside looking in, knowing I could never have any of the things a normal person could have, like family. All I wanted was a family.”
Phi was alone in the city.
The future looked bleak.
The sidelines
When Phi was about ten years old, one of his friends invited him to a Blue Dragon football session in Hanoi. Shy and cautious from so much heartbreak and isolation, Phi sat and watched the game from the sidelines.
It was then that Blue Dragon founder Michael Brosowski came over to have a chat with him.
“We meet a lot of kids, all the time, who are going through terrible periods in their lives,” shares Michael. “But Phi looked like a kid with nothing in life to bring him any happiness at all. I went over to him right away to introduce myself and just sat with him until he was ready to play football.”
When he was finally ready, Phi took a deep breath, laced up his boots and joined the game. That moment was the beginning of his new life.
“Playing football was part of the process to becoming who I am now. It was like I was in prison for all my life, and finally I could play and do the things that normal people do. I realised it didn’t need to be big things, just those small happinesses from day to day helped me to plan for the future and have long-term goals.”
Playing football gave Phi hope for the future.
Role model
As well as joining activities and going on trips at Blue Dragon, Phi wanted to be a kind, caring and passionate human being, and he knew just the person to look to for guidance: Blue Dragon co-CEO Vi, who was a volunteer social worker at the time.
Vi lived on the streets of Hanoi as a child, shining shoes to earn money that he sent home to keep his younger sisters in school. He received support from Blue Dragon, turned his life around and came back to help children here.
“Vi had a similar background to me, so I felt comfortable around him. I would watch him carefully – especially the way he treated other people – and to copy and paste his actions into my own life. I wanted to make my life as good as his and one day give back to other kids like he was doing.”
Phi would eventually achieve that goal and start changing the lives of children who had grown up in hardship like him – but he would have to face many more challenges first.
Roller-skating was one of Phi’s favourite activities at Blue Dragon.
As Phi joined more activities, he began to turn his life around.
Sucker punch
In his mid-teens, Phi was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
Phi still did his best to join activities and try to make his life better, but his condition was severe. After spending several years in and out of hospital, the doctors told him that he probably only had about one month left to live.
In just a few short years, Phi had gone from feeling like a prisoner looking in on people living good lives, to finding hope for a bright future, to having it cruelly snatched away from him. When Vi and Michael visited Phi in hospital, they had trouble holding back the tears.
“Phi was lying in his bed so incredibly weak and thin,” shares Michael. “I remember thinking that this was almost certainly the last time I would see him; he appeared to be beyond recovery and he knew it.”
Phi near the peak of his illness.
Phoenix
Incredibly, Phi recovered. Despite his physical weakness and all the best judgement of his doctors, he battled hard and rallied back toward full health. Now that he had his life back, he was determined to make the most of every opportunity.
When Phi told Blue Dragon that he was thinking of pursuing graphic design as a career, we helped his dream take flight by introducing him to an apprenticeship program at an animation studio in Hanoi.
The course is extremely competitive and highly demanding. Given he had no experience in the field, Phi was far from an ideal candidate, but his passion and enthusiasm convinced the course leaders to give him a chance. Despite the fact that he continued to take strong medication for his illness, Phi fought through the pain and more than repaid their faith in him.
As other people on the course became overwhelmed and dropped out one by one, Phi just kept going. He had turned his life around when everyone told him he never would; he had overcome a brutal illness when all hope seemed lost; and he knew, from start to finish, that he was going to get through this too.
All Phi’s hard work paid off. He aced the course and the studio offered him a full-time role as a character animator. The company was so happy with him – especially his dedication to helping others – that they gave him a promotion after just one month. By the time he turned 25 he was heading a team of 20 people.
“I put so much hard work and research into it, and I loved it so much. The job was a dream come true and it suited me perfectly.”
Phi in his home studio.
Phi specialises in character animation.
Role model 2.0
A few years after starting his job, Phi got married, started a family and transitioned to freelance work. Now, He is doing everything he can to give his children the love and care that he never knew until he met Blue Dragon.
“What I want more than anything now is to give my children the childhood I couldn’t have, and to spend the time with them that my parents couldn’t spend with me.”
What’s more, Phi has achieved his dream of giving back to children at Blue Dragon. Now, when a Blue Dragon kid says they’re interested in anything to do with graphic design, we reach out to Phi to give them guidance. He has even assisted some of them to enrol in the same apprenticeship program that gave him his breakthrough.
Just as Phi looked up to Vi all those years ago, Blue Dragon kids can now look up to him. And he has some very simple advice for them.
“You have already been through the worst things, so you can tackle anything that might hit you in the future. Trust me, the hardest part of your life was before you met Blue Dragon, because after you meet Blue Dragon, things will get better.”
Phi’s future looks bright.
