Dear Friends and Supporters,

I am writing to let you know about Blue Dragon’s emergency relief efforts following Typhoon Ketsana.

The typhoon struck central Vietnam on September 29. At least 163 people were killed by the storm, and over 6000 homes were completely washed away.

Blue Dragon has long been working in two areas of central Vietnam, Hoi An town and Hue province, where the typhoon hit. We are relieved to report that none of the families we are working with lost their lives as a result of the typhoon.

Sadly, however, almost all of the families and children we work with in those areas have been badly affected.

Hoi An Town

In Hoi An, where Blue Dragon runs the Hoi An Children’s Home, a flash flood caused by a collapsed dam resulted in the loss of many personal items belonging to the 30 kids living there. Thanks to some private donations from around the world, we have been able to replace those lost clothes, books, and personal effects.

Hue Province

In Hue, the typhoon was much more devastating. Many homes lost their roofs or were destroyed totally. Some families lost everything they owned.

Immediately after the typhoon, Blue Dragon worked with the United Nations International School (UNIS) to deliver rice, noodles, and other essentials to over 300 families in coastal areas of Hue province. We were careful to ensure that we were delivering emergency supplies to families who were in the greatest need, and had not received support from any other agency.

Follow-up

Almost a month has passed, but the situation in Hue province remains dire. Hue airport has been closed recently due to flooding, as storms continue to cause havoc. Many roads remain impassable.

One consequence of this ongoing disaster is that impoverished fishing families from coastal areas have been unable to go to work for a full month. This is leading to widespread hunger in many areas of Hue.

As I write, Blue Dragon staff are in Hue distributing over 4.5 tons of rice and noodles, which have been funded by the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Ho Chi Minh City. We are also providing families with simple water filtration systems which will provide clean drinking water for at least 2 years.

What’s next?

Everyone is hoping that the rain will ease and the floods start to recede soon. Once that happens, Blue Dragon will start helping families to rebuild damaged or destroyed homes.

At the moment, we have enough money for the ‘emergency relief’ phase of this work, but we would welcome donations to help us with the repair and rebuilding that will take place over the coming months. You can visit our website if you wish to donate – www.streetkidsinvietnam.com – or email us on info@bdcf.org.

See for yourself

The Blue Dragon blog – www.vietnamstreets.blogspot.com – has some photos of the affected areas, as well as images of our relief work.

With sincere thanks for your support,

Michael Brosowski
Director
Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

Today started out as a bright, sunny, warm, and very humid day. Then, the rain came… and it didn’t stop.

It rained for 7 hours straight starting at 5PM, and I believe it is still raining- although, not as heavy as it was earlier.

I’ve seen other people tread through water here but I thought I would never allow myself to get caught out in that much rain. ‘Should have knocked on wood.

Tonight, while coming home after a birthday dinner and, afterwards, a cup of iced coffee with my girlfriend where we had an interesting conversation (saved for a future post), was a “whoa, that’s a lot of rain” moment.

Firstly, driving to the bus stop on the back of a motorbike was cold and wet. Even as I did my best to hide from the rain under a rain jacket, I still got soaked from the waist down. Then, my girlfriend- cute as ever- dropped me off a block away from the bus stop. It was hard to see with the downpour. Yeah, I got soaked walking my way back to the designated pickup point.

On the way home, some parts of the road had rain up to eighteen inches. Cars, motorbikes, and people were still trudging their way through.

The driving here is somewhat dangerous and risky, but even in the rain, the drivers still took chances with each other. In this case, it was a bad move for one motorbike who was hit by our bus. In an attempt to merge in front of the bus, the bike got hit, but I don’t think it was that bad because after the collision, the bus driver and ticket person got out to investigate but returned and drove off after one minute. However, this is usually what happens when an accident that isn’t “serious” occurs. I hate to think of it, but maybe death is the only case when the driver will actually stop and wait for police. As the bus continued on its route, I could see that the motorbike and passenger were trying to collect themselves and continue on their way as well. Sadly, this happens a lot in Viet Nam.

On the rest of the trip home, the water level reached two feet in some places and the bus kept going- albeit, slowly. As my stop approached, I did what the other passengers did- took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants, and got ready to hit the water.

At first, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Then, I remembered about the sewage system. That gave me the jitters. All I could do was just keep going. How else was I going to get home?

On the university grounds, especially near my dormitory, the water came up to my knee-caps. Ugggghhhh… I finally made it home, and jumped in the shower for a long cleansing.

Wow. The International Relations staff wasn’t joking when they said that sometimes the locals refer to Ha Noi as “Ha Loi”. “Loi”, meaning “to wade through water”. Eh, what can you do but laugh it off? It makes for good stories at the office.

27 MAY 2008 UPDATE: Link to an earlier downpour to give you an example of the flooded streets.