By Julia Andborn

During our week in Vietnam we learned about a non-profit organization that does incredibly important work in the country. The Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation works to make sure care is provided to children living in poverty. They also work to end human trafficking. Poverty is a major issue in parts of Vietnam and this impacts many children. Often the kids are forced to sell things or products in the street or at a market. This is to be able to help their parents feed them for the day. Every dollar counts for people living in poverty. Due to Covid-19, the conditions have gotten worse for them. Most locals and tourists believe that giving money to people directly is the best solution. However, this is not the case according to the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. This is because it encourages their behavior and incentivizes them to continue to send their kids begging and selling products on the streets. 

Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation instead tries to track and keep an eye on the kids they believe are in danger or in difficult situations, where they are either at risk of being hurt or missing out on school. They try to speak to the parents to reinstate how important school is for their children and that going to school has to be prioritized. Sometimes they also take the kids to their center where they can shower, have a snack, and perform activities with other kids. 

In terms of their human trafficking work, they have helped many girls and women in Vietnam that were trafficked to China. However, every case is different and they need to approach each situation with completely different strategies. Most of the human trafficking to China is a consequence of the one-child policy, where there is a preference for boys over girls which has caused a decline in the female population in China. The need for wives has therefore increased the numbers of women abducted and trafficked to China. Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation works with specific cases to get trafficked girls back home and hold awareness events where they teach people about the warning signs in order to prevent human trafficking. 

I hope you found this blog post interesting and if you are interested in knowing more about Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, this is their Instagram @bluedragonchildren

Julia Andborn participated in our virtual study abroad in Asia in Summer 2021. https://ieo.ucla.edu/travelstudy