Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Reunion

Last week I wrote about the experience of reuniting runaway children with their families.

Our latest reunion is of a 13 year old boy from Lang Son province in the north of Vietnam. "Hieu" had been working for some kind of traveling circus which was exploiting him, and his family was uninterested in helping, so the little guy hopped on a bus and headed to Hanoi. We met Hieu on his first night in the city and within a few days accompanied home to see his father and uncle.

It was a long trip to a fairly remote area... 


Home isn't a happy place for this boy. Hieu only recently met his father, who had been in prison since the birth of his son, and the uncle who raised him has no interest in his welfare. Their home is very poor, with no comforts whatsoever.



Hieu agreed to stay with his father, but just for a few days. He sees no future at home, and his father doesn't seem to care at all. So Hieu is already back in Hanoi, but this time not on the streets; he's staying at a Blue Dragon shelter while we help him work out what he wants to do.

Kids need a family who love and care for them; it always breaks my heart to meet children who know they don't have that. The look in Hieu's eyes tells me he's already feeling let down by the world. I only hope that Blue Dragon can fill that void he feels, and give him reason to trust the world once more.

1 comment:

Duc Minh said...

Thank you for caring and giving home to lost kids. The reward for us is to see them successful and live their life with dignity.

Duc Minh Bui