Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation (Blue Dragon) is a charitably-funded non-governmental organization based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Its mission is to help children escape from the poverty cycle by offering them chances at education and improved living conditions. It also helps children escape from slave labour, provides access to drug rehabilitation programs and has raised money for storm damaged areas as the scope of its work has widened.

History

The foundation was begun by an Australian school teacher, Michael Brosowski. He visited Vietnam in 2002 to teach English at the university in Hanoi. While there he met many street children, mainly doing jobs such as shining shoes to earn a living.

At first Michael, along with one of his language students Pham Sy Chung, offered the children tuition in maths, English and yoga and art. They also formed a football team - "Real Betis Vietnam" which would later be sponsored by their Spanish namesake. The idea was to promote a sense of sportsmanship and teamwork while getting exercise. Initially 3 teenage boys turned up for these games.

By early 2003, Michael has quit his university job to concentrate full time on the needs of the street children. Word had got round and more kept arriving to seek help. Medical problems, educational needs, somewhere to sleep... the problems were varied. In February 2003, work began on formalising the small group's efforts into a registered organisation.

The process wasn't a simple one, but in March 2004 Blue Dragon Children's Foundation was registered as an Incorporated Association in Australia. In September 2004, it was registered as an Independent Non-Government Organisation in Vietnam.

During this period, on June 2nd 2003, The Big Room was opened; essentially a residence for 6 former street kids. It was funded for its first year by a $5000 donation from two expatriate women. Also, a program was launched to try to help keep poor rural children in school and the group continued to reach out to other children in the Hanoi area.

Chung left to study in the US in early 2005, and Michael hired two full-time staff to replace him. With these two staff, a combined office and drop-in centre was opened in March of that year. This office was used until August 2007 when the Foundation moved to larger premises to cope with its continued growth.

In late 2005, Michael and a Vietnamese law student - Ta Ngoc Van - rescued a child from central Vietnam who had been bought slave labourers in Ho Chi Minh City. This was the start of another program dedicated to recovering many more children in the same situation. To do this, Michael hired Van and his wife full time as Vietnam's only Child Care Advocates. As of June 2008 one child trafficking ring has been permanently disrupted and over 30 children have been returned to their homes.

In August 2007, Blue Dragon began assisting in the running of a children's Home in Hoi An, central Vietnam. A full-time volunteer, Nicole Woods from Australia, currently oversees the home.

Blue Dragon's Work

Blue Dragon's central aim is to get children into school and keep them there with the view to improving their employability and long-term prospects. To achieve this, many other tasks are undertaken. Accommodation is provided, or repair/refurbishment of their existing home if living conditions simply aren't suitable. Out-of-school tuition is provided to help children study. Books and stationary are given to those who can't afford them.

Medical care is paid for in some extreme cases where it can save the life or lifestyle of a child. To date, two instances of cosmetic surgery (one facial tumour and one hare lip) have been funded or part-funded by Blue Dragon. These two operations have allowed the afflicted children to return to an education that they were previously excluded from as a result of their conditions. Another boy, seriously injured by a gang wielding knives and machetes, was nursed back to health with the help of Blue Dragon and returned to an almost normal life afterwards. [cite news | title= Côn đồ học đường | url= http://www.cand.com.vn/vi-VN/phapluat/2007/12/81734.cand | work= CAND | accessdate= 2008-06-04 | language= Vietnamese] [ [http://vietnamstreets.blogspot.com/2007/12/cut.html "Street kids in Vietnam: Cut"] ] [ [http://vietnamstreets.blogspot.com/2007/12/remember-this.html "Street kids in Vietnam: Remember This"] ] [ [http://vietnamstreets.blogspot.com/2007/12/final-cut.html "Street kids in Vietnam: The Final Cut"] ] .

Child trafficking is a major issue in SE Asia, and Blue Dragon now tackles this as a permanent part of its workload. Two staff members work full-time on locating and rescuing children who have been bought, traded or kidnapped by child labourers. The parents of many of these children believe they are sending them to a better life with an opportunity for education and a proper job. However, this is not the case and the children find themselves working 15 or more hours per day with no pay, and living in cramped unsanitary conditions.

The Hoi-An Children's Home is now run by Blue Dragon with a full-time volunteer in charge. Approximately 30 children live and are taught here.

Every Sunday over 40 children play football on two local pitches near the Red River. The games are organised by Blue Dragon, and refreshments (milk and fruit) are provided for all those who attend. Sports are popular and recently rugby and cheerleading have been added to the options available. Occasional swimming classes are also given to the children when staff, time and funding permit.

All children who attend the drop-in centre can receive help with homework and/or basic non-school tuition. Healthy meals are provided, as is a place to sleep.

Blue Dragon works alongside many other charities in Vietnam. One of these, KOTO, has accepted several children from Blue Dragon onto its training program.

As of May 2008, Blue Dragon had achieved the following:

* Sent 876 kids back to school and training
* Provided accommodation to 71 girls and boys
* Served 55,945 meals
* Built or repaired 14 homes for families
* Distributed 2,276 litres of milk
* Handed out 10,920 kgs of rice
* Reunited 47 runaway children with their families
* Taken 183 kids to a doctor or hospital
* Put 5 teens through drug rehab
* Obtained legal registration papers for 113 children
* Rescued 33 trafficked children
* Placed 34 teens in jobs
* Played 522 games of soccer

Fundraising

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation is funded purely by donations. The low cost of living in Vietnam compared to many other countries means that a comparatively small donation in a more affluent country will go a long way. The cost to put a child through school for one year is approximately $AU100 as of 2008's prices.

Donations can be sent in many ways - PayPal direct to the Foundation itself; by cash or credit through the Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific (AFAP) in Australia; or via 100 Friends in the US. Tax-paying residents of these countries can opt for tax relief on these donations, thus providing more to Blue Dragon at the government's cost.

Sponsorship schemes are also available. An individual donor can fund a child through school for a year. In return, the sponsor will receive a picture of the child, background information and updates throughout the year.

The Blue Dragon Restaurant in Hoi An is partly staffed by Blue Dragon "graduates". A share of their profits is donated to the charity each month.

Other events have raised money. Iain Purdie walked from Monaco to Newcastle upon Tyne, a distance of 1000 miles, in 2007 to raise money for and awareness of Blue Dragon's work.

As well as cash, the Foundation welcomes gifts of useful supplies. Anyone travelling through Hanoi is more than welcome to bring (or buy locally) pens, pencils, paper and other stationary products. Many corporate sponsors have provided a variety of gifts. A well-known car manufacturer has supplied engines for children to dismantle and reassemble so that they can develop mechanical skills. Many of the international embassies and ambassadors donate funds and supplied to Blue Dragon, including the Canadian, Australian, Irish and Thai.

References

ee also

* Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific
* Child poverty
* KOTO
* Japanese Association of Supporting Streetchildren
* Trafficking of children
* Street children
* List of non-governmental organizations in Vietnam

External links

Blue Dragon links

* [http://www.bdcf.org/ BDCF official page]
* [http://vietnamstreets.blogspot.com/ Street kids in Vietnam - BDCF blog]

Related charities / organisations

* [http://www.IWouldWalk1000Miles.me.uk 1000 Mile Walk blog]
* [http://www.100friends.com/ 100 Friends]
* [http://www.afap.org Australian Foundation for the peoples of Asia Pacific (AFAP)]

Resources and materials

* [http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=501&catID=5 Guardian Weekly article]
* [http://www.project-dream.com/index.php?pageid=114 Project Dream - a backpacker writes about her experience of helping and meeting one of the street kids]
* [http://www.cand.com.vn/vi-VN/phapluat/2007/12/81734.cand CAND article about Ngoc, the boy who was knifed (in Vietnamese)]