According to Do Duy Vi, managing director of the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, many people are curious about the children and ask them about their families’ problems and why they lead the life of a wanderer. However, Vi, who has 10 years of experience in seeking out street children, and who was once a street shoeshine boy 19 years ago, doesn’t do this.

“Don’t ask them too many things,” he said.

Approaching them and winning their confidence requires a long process which needs patience.

“The children are always on the alert. They are afraid of strangers and afraid of someone making an invitation. They have been hurt and swindled, so they don’t have confidence in anyone,” he said.

Asked what he does to win over the hearts of street children, Vi said he simply offers options.

“I tell them that I am worried when they eat and sleep in unsafe places. If they don’t need my support, I say it’s not a problem, but when they need help, please call me,” he said.

In other cases, he invites children to visit the organization’s house, and if they say they don’t like the house, he will take them back to their old places.

“It sometimes takes me one year to establish a relationship with children. In general, I need 3-5 meetings to get that,” he said.

After successfully bringing children to the organization’s house, they are introduced to English, painting, swimming, and martial arts classes, or football clubs, and are taught life skills and how to write a CV.

Rong Xanh’s staff also invites children to participate in community activities, such as running charity campaigns in mountainous areas, picking up trash, and helping to find and talk to street children.

The activities help the children realize they have their own value and recognize their passions and strong points.

“There is no common formula for supporting children. Each has specific demands, circumstances and problems. We have to have comprehensive solutions,” he said.

“You don’t just give them a vocational training course or a scholarship and then let them alone,” he said.

For children who can return to their families, Rong Xanh helps them to go back to their hometowns and to school, and works with families and local authorities to ensure their safe development.

As for other children, social workers find out what their problems are and give long-term support.  The organization may help their families build a house, provide breeding animals and seeds, or provide knowledge on cultivation, so they can improve their living conditions. Meanwhile, children old enough to get vocational training will be sent to career guidance centers.

The children supported by the organizations experience different conditions. They could be physically or emotionally abused, sexually abused, trafficked or forced to work illegally. They may come from unhappy families that have connections to drugs and theft. 

Children who suffer from trauma

Dao Hoang Anh, born in 1994, a graduate of the Vietnam Youth Academy, is one of the members of Rong Xanh who has a lot of experience in seeking out and supporting street children.

Anh said in recent years that children wandering the street and looking for food are mostly from northern mountainous areas and most them were born into families with problems: some of them have parents in prison, and some others are abused and abandoned. And others would rather sleep on the street than stay at home, though their families are not in a bad financial situation. 

It is difficult to persuade children to stick to one place as they have been wandering for a long time and they enjoy their freedom.

He said the most important thing is being patient and spend time supporting children, especially seriously affected children.

Members of the organization also have to sometimes accept failure. In many cases, they cannot help.

That is usually due to problems beyond the capability of the organization (for example, parents may have big debts). In other cases, the support cannot erase the psychological traumas.

“It’s difficult to work with families to change their unsuitable behavior toward children, because this depends on their awareness. The way of thinking of the parents cannot be changed after just one or two conversations,” he said.

Nguyen Thao