THANH: HOPE IN HO CHI MINH CITY
When Blue Dragon expanded to Ho Chi Minh City last year, we knew just the person who could change the lives of the city’s street children: Thanh.
THANH’S FIRST LESSON
Thanh had an eye-opening first week at Blue Dragon.
When he began his job as a social worker here in 2019, his first experience was to see the children and staff playing happily together at our centre.
Happy children at the Blue Dragon centre.
“But then I joined the team searching for street kids, and I was shocked by what I saw. The kids were living in extremely poor conditions – many barely surviving under bridges, on roadsides and in the corners of parks – and I was really curious how Blue Dragon was able to meet kids like this and help them find the kind of joy and happiness I saw in the children at the centre.”
In the following four years, Thanh became well-acquainted with the kind of skill and commitment it takes to transform the life of just a single street kid. Building the trust of a child who has been exploited and abused while sleeping rough often takes months – even years – of dedication. And sometimes, as Thanh remembers, it takes lots of great reading material.
“I met so many kids during my time in Hanoi, but one I really remember is a little boy called Duc. He was living on the streets about 20 kilometres from Hanoi. I visited him every week, bringing him food and comics – he really loved reading them. After a year, he finally agreed to come with me to the Blue Dragon centre to wash himself and have a hot meal. With our support, he got a job in a bakery. We’re still supporting him now.”
In 2023, after nearly four years of supporting vulnerable children like Duc to turn their lives around, Thanh left Blue Dragon to pursue new opportunities. It wouldn’t be long before he returned – although in a different way than he might have imagined.
Concrete pipes where street kids sleep
PATIENCE AND HOPE
When we expanded to Ho Chi Minh City last year, Blue Dragon co-CEO, Vi, knew we needed someone experienced to implement lasting change for the city’s street children – and he knew just the person to call.
“I knew Thanh was the right person for the job,” shares Vi. “In his four years in Hanoi, he demonstrated exceptional care, patience and adaptability. It’s rare to find someone with such experience and understanding of street kids. Thanh had moved to Ho Chi Minh City to pursue his studies and work with other NGOs. When we spoke, he was available and looking for opportunities, making it the perfect time for both of us to begin this new journey together.”
When Thanh first began working in Ho Chi Minh City, he was taken aback by the scale of poverty visible on the streets – just like when he first started all those years ago in Hanoi.
“All over the city you can see homeless children selling gum and other things, and kids breathing fire for money which is stolen from them by gang leaders who exploit them. Helping all of them is a huge job.”
Having spent four years assisting children on the streets of Hanoi, Thanh has seen Blue Dragon create lasting change on a city-wide scale — and he knows what it takes to do it.
“We’re not dealing with something simple like selling a product. We’re dealing with very human work, and sometimes it takes years to help someone. It requires patience – and a lot of hope.”
STORIES FROM THE STREETS
Thanh has already seen plenty of ups and downs on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City — many of which have tested his patience and his hope. One story that sticks with him is that of a boy he found in distress on a busy street one evening.
“When I came there and talked with the kids who were fire breathing on the street to entertain tourists, one was crying, and all the kids there were telling me to help him. They said he’d been beaten by their ‘boss’ — the person who controls the money they earn. The kid – his name was Hoang – said he didn’t want to stay there and I told him I could take him somewhere safe. Hoang said to me he really wanted to go.
“I decided to trick the gang leader. I said I was taking Hoang to eat somewhere, and put him on my bike, and I rode away with him to another district. Hoang was really scared that we were being followed, so I just kept driving and driving with him on the back until we were so far away that he felt safe.
“Finally, I was able to take Hoang to his grandparents. At first the grandmother called the police because she thought I was the one who had taken him! They calmed down when I told them the story, and he went back to live with them again and now he has a job. He needs a lot of support, because his family situation isn’t completely stable and he has some psychological problems from his time on the streets, but he has our support now and we’re continuing to help him.”
A street kid blowing fire for money.
BEING HUMAN
Duc, the boy who loved to read comics in Hanoi, took a year to trust Thanh enough to follow him. Hoang, who had been beaten by his “boss”, came with him immediately. But both boys will continue to need support for years to come, and both of their stories exemplify what Thanh believes is the most important part of his and all of Blue Dragon’s work in general: being human.
“I work at Blue Dragon because we have the same values — we do everything we can to help children. If they have some difficulties, we will never say ‘no’ — we always find a way to support them because they are human, they are children. We adapt our programs to support their needs, not the other way around. We let them try, and we let them fail, because we let them be themselves. We do something real.”
Thanh’s philosophy of being human extends to the way he interacts with his team. Being exposed to so many children facing exploitation and abuse while living in poverty can take an emotional toll, so Thanh does everything he can to take care of them.
“We have a psychologist and a program with sessions on how to look after each other. It’s a kind of unique job, and you need people who share the right values. It is the most important thing to take care of my team, because if I don’t, we won’t be able to help kids who need us.”
Thanh giving guidance to his team.
It’s still early days for Blue Dragon in Ho Chi Minh City and there are thousands of people there who need our help. But, little-by-little, Thanh sees that he, his team and all of Blue Dragon behind them are already beginning to make a difference.
“When I see my colleagues sharing their feelings, and stories about kids having birthday parties and other happy moments that they’ve never experienced before – feeling good and valuable – when they share that with me I know we’re really making an impact.”
