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Category: Human trafficking

Take a moment

Take a moment

Published by Michael Brosowski on May 30, 2016

If you’ve been following what’s happening at Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, you’ll have seen the launch of our annual funding appeal. This is the time of year that we plan for the coming 12 months, and ask the world to help us. It’s a nerve-wracking time because so much depends on the outcome. Part of the approach this year was to make some films about the kids who we’ve rescued in the past. The website has a few good films, including some made by the kids themselves (which is a…

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Bricks and mortar

Bricks and mortar

Published by Michael Brosowski on April 25, 2016

Tin was 13 when she dropped out of school. It wasn’t that she disliked school; in fact she loved to study and was a good student. But living up in the mountains, in a remote ethnic community, meant that getting to school was an ordeal. She couldn’t travel to and from every day; it would take at least 2 hours each way, and that was in good weather. Her only chance to stay in school was to move away from home and live in a shared room near the school.…

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The cool kids

The cool kids

Published by Michael Brosowski on April 17, 2016

Thuan has a new piercing this week. He saved up money from his part time job and went down to the parlour around the corner from Blue Dragon. Like some other teens from our Hanoi centre, he now has multiple earrings, a few tattoos, and his hair is dyed another colour every other day. It’s all very inexpensive – the kids do much of this “self renovation” work themselves – but the result is incredibly cool. Trang doesn’t have any piercings, but she has defined herself through movement. In just a few short…

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The ‘R’ word

The ‘R’ word

Published by Michael Brosowski on April 10, 2016

Among charities that work in the field of human trafficking, there’s a particular word which is considered highly contentious. My own organisation, Blue Dragon, started using the word 10 years ago. I didn’t even know that there was controversy around its use. The word? Rescue. It’s controversial for some good reasons. In places, organisations have ‘rescued’ people who didn’t want to be rescued, or used it as a euphemism for ‘imprison’. There are stories of NGOs raiding brothels or night clubs and taking out adult sex workers who didn’t consider themselves slaves,…

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Blame

Blame

Published by Michael Brosowski on March 27, 2016

Of all of Blue Dragon’s work with kids in crisis, it is our involvement in rescuing people trafficked into the sex industry that attracts the most attention. Our rescues are in response to specific calls for help. Vietnamese girls and women who have been trafficked to China for sale as brides or into brothels call home for help; the message gets to us and we send a team to find them and bring them home. Among the questions I am asked most about this work is a question of blame. How could…

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20 years away

20 years away

Published by Michael Brosowski on March 13, 2016

Nga walked across the border from China to Vietnam on Friday, 20 years after she was taken across by a gang of traffickers. Nga is in her 50s now. Most of the rescue operations that we conduct at Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation are of children and teens; but in reality we never say no to any call for help, no matter what age the person. Aged 33 when she was taken, Nga had a 6 year old son and a family who loved her very much. Her disappearance was a cause…

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A major gift

A major gift

Published by Michael Brosowski on February 14, 2016

When it comes to fundraising, charitable organisations talk about ‘major gifts’: the grants and donations that are ‘major’ in terms of their size compared to the charity’s budget. They are ‘major’ because of their impact on what the organisation can do. But another way to look at ‘major gifts’ is from the point of view of the person giving the gift – the donor. A gift of $10,000 might not be a significant sum for a billionaire to donate; but $20 might be a major gift from a retiree or…

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