History
The foundation was begun by an Australian school teacher, Michael Brosowski. He came to Vietnam in 2002 to teach English at Hanoi University. While there he met many street children, and began to teach free classes with one of his students, Pham Sy Chung, in maths, English, yoga, and art. They also formed a football team to promote a sense of sportsmanship and teamwork, while also getting to know new children living on the street. Initially 3 teenage boys turned up for these games, but soon over 40 came each weekend.
By early 2003, Michael had quit his university job to concentrate full-time on the needs of the street children. Word spread and more kept arriving to seek help, coming with medical problems, educational needs, and often needing a place to sleep. As the number grew, it became clear that many of the children coming for help would need long-term support. 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.
On June 2, 2003, The Big Room was opened, a residence for 6 former street kids. It was funded for its first year by a $5000 donation from two expatriate women. That same year 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. In early 2005 Chung left Vietnam to study in the US, 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 trafficked by 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. In 2007, Blue Dragon rescued 3 girls who were kidnapped and sold as sex slaves in China. Since then, over 210 children have been returned to their families from garment factories and 21 girls have been rescued from brothels.
In 2007, Blue Dragon's work expanded to central Vietnam when it began assisting in the running of a government run children's home in Hoi An. Blue Dragon has since partnered with another NGO, Children's Hope in Action, in the management of the home.
In 2011, Michael Brosowski was named one of that year's "CNN Heroes", and in 2012 was made a member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his work defending the rights of Vietnamese children.
Read more about this topic: Blue Dragon Children's Foundation
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