This week, Kim from Blue Dragon visited Langports to meet with staff and students and give updates on the amazing work the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation have been doing.
For those of you who don't know Blue Dragon, they are a foundation in Hanoi, Vietnam that was started by and Australian teacher Michael Browoski. It is a charity that helps street kids and rescues victims from slavery and human trafficking in Vietnam.
Blue Dragon's mission is to end human trafficking.
Human Trafficking happens when bad people trick and use poor people to make them work without pay. When poor people don't have enough money and opportunities to have a good life, they may need to move to find work. The bad people take advantage of this and trick them into working as slaves by pretending to offer them jobs.
Blue Dragon helps many people who were tricked into being slaves while trying to find work. Blue Dragon works with communities in different ways to help them become stronger and protect themselves from being tricked.
One important thing Blue Dragon does is help families become less poor. They give families animals, supplies, money, training, and advice to start their own farm or small business. When parents have animals or another way to make money, they don't have to go far away to find work. This helps them stay safe and look after their children. It also allows them to keep their children in school, so they are protected.
Recently, Blue Dragon have also been setting up Anti Trafficking Boards in rural villages around Vietnam that are venerable to human Trafficking. The board has students, parents, police officers, and farmers. They all work together to keep their communities safe. They learn from Blue Dragon and teach others about the dangers of human trafficking. They also help anyone who might be in danger and support victims of trafficking in their communities.
Education for children, stable incomes for families, and anti-trafficking boards in vulnerable communities are just three examples of how Blue Dragon is working to end human trafficking.
You can read more about the history in a blog John France wrote > click here
To date, Blue Dragon has:
Rescued 1,347 people from trafficking
Represented 236 people in court cases
Sent 6,280 kids back to school & training
Provided shelter to 1,606 girls & boys
Placed 434 teens in jobs
Served 662,589 meals
Built 261 homes for families
Reunited 752 runaways with their families
Obtained legal papers for 13,541 people
Played 3,399 games of soccer!
We are inspired every time we talk with the staff and children of Blue Dragon and are so happy to welcome them to Langports.
This week, our new SAYL scholarship recipient arrived and began his course at Langports Brisbane. We will share more news on this soon!
