Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

I’ve just been going through the “in progress” work that the wonderful Kristian (of Loondesign) is doing for Blue Dragon‘s website. The new “Kid’s stories” page details three tales of children who have found themselves fortunate enough to receive help from the crew at BDCF. Courtesy of a discussion I was having with someone on facebook recently, the third one made me wonder – why are people in different countries, yet in similar situations, so different.

I can’t link to the story directly as the site won’t be uploaded in its new form for a week or so, so I’ve pinched the relevant section:

Hanh’s story

Hanh grew up in Bac Ninh province with her mother, Khanh. Hanh’s father walked out on her even before she was born, so that mother and daughter were homeless and had to live in abandoned houses.

When Blue Dragon met Hanh, she was 12 years old and living in a decrepit old house with no electricity or water supply. The roof had caved in and snakes infested the toilet area.

Hanh was still going to school, but her mother could not afford to pay the fees much longer. This was a family in crisis.

Blue Dragon immediately offered Hanh support to go to school, and then we set about securing land for the family and building a house that they could be proud of.

Today, Hanh is in the final years of High School and looking forward to university. Their new house is kept immaculately clean, and Hanh displays her certificates of achievement from school on the wall for all to see.

Let’s get this down to the simple facts. A family of two living in horrid conditions as a result of being left with no money manage their best for 12 years. Someone offers them help. They get a new house, the child goes to school and does well. The house is cleaned and maintained – by them – and kept as good as new.

Compare this to the UK where we have a benefits system to help people who find themselves in such a situation. Before I begin, I know that not everyone is the kind of person who will do what I’m about to rant about, but a ridiculously large number of people are.

First of all, there wouldn’t be a the 12 year wait before someone “found” them. Shortly after financial problems started, they would be able to apply for assistance. A house would be forthcoming, or at the least a flat. Their rent would be covered and assistance given to find work. Schooling is, of course, free in the UK. As a nation, we are incredibly fortunate.

Given where I lived for 13 years (Bradford) and specifically the area within it, I saw far too many examples of people who took the free house and turned it into a complete dilapidated  pit. Lawns turned to jungles, rubbish left lying, windows broken. Absolutely filthy. The simple thought being that it cost them nothing and if it got bad enough they’d just be moved somewhere else – again, for free.

Children would refuse to attend school, assuming their parents bothered to try to get them to go. Instead, they’d spend their time loitering, committing crimes and ending up as the type of people who would be demanding another house of their own as soon as they were legally able.

The only major difference is that the Vietnamese family realised exactly how lucky they were to be given a fresh start. The appreciated it and showed their gratitude in taking this gift and showing how proud they were of the house and fresh start they had been given. A home to be proud of, academic achievements to boast about and a future they could never have dreamed of beforehand.

Here in the UK, we’re so used to getting something for nothing that we take our good fortune at being born in a comparatively wealthy country for granted. We’re like spoiled children – we want everything with no explanation as to why we’re getting it. To some extent it’s human nature to take the easiest route to solving a problem but some people, unfortunately, take this to extremes. Why put effort in when you can get something for nothing?

I think this is one of the reasons I enjoyed working in Vietnam so much, and especially with the children at the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. Everyone there appreciated what was being done for them. The vast majority took this piece of good fortune and turned it very much to their own advantage through hard work and with a great spirit. They knew they wouldn’t have another chance, and that they would have led a significantly worse life if they hadn’t.

If only we could make our own citizens realise how fortunate they are in comparison.

Related articles

• Thanks from Blue Dragon! (moshblog.me.uk)
• Re-sold into slavery (lookatvietnam.com)

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Why are people so different?

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

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Blue Dragon – made it!

Besides, there are better uses for your cash than folding bits of paper. If you were considering sending me something the please just drop a quid into a charity box (your choice) instead. Your choice.

If you insist on getting cards, then kindly get one from here.

Thanks, as ever!

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Don’t send me cards!

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

Nothing I’m directly connected with, at least as far as being actively involved, but here are two good ways to waste your cash instead of… I dunno… paying tax or something.

First up, the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation are now selling Christmas cards. Yes, it’s only November but remember they’ll have to be shipped from Vietnam! Each card is hand-crafted by one of the teenagers who benefit from the money raised in their sale. They seem pricey, but note the title of each one – what you pay is what it goes towards – a desk and lamp, school books for a child, a winter coat and so on.

The full catalogue can be viewed here.

Next up is a chap who’s planning on doing something mental in 2011. Back in 2007 at the exact same time as I was walking across Europe for the aforementioned BDCF, Mark Allison was running from John O’ Groats to Land’s End in aid of a local hospice. A marathon a day, basically. In essence, he was running the same distance I was walking each day.

Run Geordie Run

Well, he’s gearing up to beat that and plans to walk coast to coast across the US. That’s 3000 miles, trebling the distance I stumbled across.

All the costs of this jaunt will come out of his own pocket and every penny raised will go to St.Benedicts Hospice and The Childrens Foundation. In addition, for every pound raised before the end of 2009, Peter’s Pies will donate 50p. That’s incredibly generous.

For full details, please see Mark’s “Run Geordie Run” website. Oh, yeah – he’s a staunch Newcastle fan!

As ever, folks, every penny counts!

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Two charity updates

Front of shirt

Raffle entries closed yesterday and a huge “thank you” to the entrants, of which there weren’t many but each was very generous indeed. Please, if you missed the competition do consider still making a donation. As happens annually, the east coast of Vietnam has taken a weather-related battering and Blue Dragon needs your funding to help them rebuild their homes, and eat in the meantime.

I snipped up a few bits of paper and dropped them into a hat (actually a Tesco carrier bag, but let’s not be picky). A quick rummage and the winner that came out was…

*drum roll*

Janice!

Which is good for me as I think she’s the only UK-based entrant so it will keep the postage cost down. I actually met her a few days ago and I could have handed her the football shirt personally. Instead, I will trust it to our increasingly dodgy postal service. Keep an eye open for it in a week or so, Janice.

Again, thank you all for your entries and generosity!

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Footie shirt winner!

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

Michael has posted a link on his blog today to an article on a Vietnamese newspaper’s website. Don’t worry, the article is in English!

Essentially it details the costs involved in sending a child to school in Vietnam. Yes, costs. Schooling is not free in Vietnam and is out of the financial reach of a lot of people. Judging by the article it’s not helped by some schools using children and parents as a means of extracting further cash.

To put the sums in context, 2 million dong is around £70 or US$110. This is a “fee” some schools are asking for before registering a child. And a further 2 million for clothes and equipment. Other sums mentioned may seem small to us (40,000d is around £1.50) but remember that many people in Vietnam earn as little as US$ per month.

Putting their children through school, if they can afford it at all, can plunge a family into huge amounts of debt. Many simply don’t bother, which is why the country has so many street children. Runaways who don’t want to be a burden on their parents, children who need to work to help the family break even each month and so on.

Social security simply doesn’t exist in Vietnam and – as in many other countries – the children are amongst the first to suffer. And with them, the future of the country as a whole.

This is why I wholeheartedly support the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation and the other similar NGOs which it works in partnership around the country. This is why I’ve banged on about them for over three years. This is why I spent six weeks in Hanoi in 2006 working with those children and helping them develop a new, self-maintained web site. This is why I walked from Monaco to Newcastle to raise money for them.

This is why I won’t stop. Children matter in every country. Vietnam just happens to have gotten its hooks into me in a way no other country has managed.

Please pop by the BDCF web page and make a donation. As you can see by the sums above, what seems fairly small change to you or I could get a child through school for a year in Vietnam. Even a small donation will make a difference. Blue Dragon’s admin costs are kept to a minimum with the vast majority of incoming funds being used for the purposes that you, the donating public, expect them to be used.

This is why you can make a difference.

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This is why…

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

I may possibly be heading to Vietnam again later this year and of course, if I do, one of my priority stops wil be Hanoi to see the kids at the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation again. I’ve been chatting to Michael there recently (we’ve had a couple more generous donations via the 1000 Mile Walk page), and he’s currently in Australia doing some much-needed fundraising.

Thing is, as everyone worldwide pretty much has to tighten their belts as the money dries up. People can’t afford to give cash away. Sadly, though, the need for this money doesn’t abate. Children still need help, education… rescuing.

Mike recently posted the following video on the VietnamStreets blog. It shows a young boy who has just been rescued from a sweat shop. He simply didn’t believe that Michael and the team were there to free him from the slave-driving filth who were making him work 16+ hours a day for nothing. They handed him a telephone so his mother could explain herself.

Now you tell me. Isn’t his reaction – the tears, the relief, the knowledge he was once again free – worth a few pounds, dollars, yen, euros or whatever? Please, please, please – spare a few bucks. I know times are tight. But the price of a couple of pints can make a huge difference to these children.

Donations can be made via this page on the Blue Dragon site.

Thanks.

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Blue Dragon – keep it rolling in!

Quotations for Positive People is a collection of inspiring quotes that has been compiled by Larry Welch – and he’s offered to donate all of the profits to Blue Dragon! Thanks, Larry!

We’re going to use the funds for some of our most positive work – providing homes to children who live on the streets. So, buy the book! Give it to your friends! Pay your staff in copies of the book rather than boring old cash!

Click here for more info: http://www.trafford.com/07-1419

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Buy a book!