Blue Dragon

Should I tell you some of their stories?

Do you want to hear about the young boy whose mother died? About how his father was sent to jail and he was left to the care of an uncle? Do you want to hear about how the uncle sold him. SOLD him. To a circus.

That idea is so unimaginable, so unthinkable and untenable to most of our minds that if we heard it in a joke, it would be funny. No jokes today.

The stories of these kids are so horrible, so mind-rendingly awful, that I really don't need to tell them to you. You can imagine them already, though you don't want to. We don't want to get down into that misery, and honestly, I understand why. There are so many problems in the world today, so much suffering, that it's difficult for a caring soul to look without getting dragged down.

Luckily there are some among us who do get down into it. And they do make a difference.

Blue Dragon Children'sFoundation does it. And they do it well. They find kids who have been sold into slavery, working 16 hour days... And the other one. The one you've heard about, the one that makes the soul flinch back. The girls...

The people at Blue Dragon find them. They get to them. They bring them out. They give them support, counseling, and the chance to get their lives back. They help street kids, those whose families can't take care of them, children with disabilities.

Do you need to hear another anecdote? How about one more piece of that first one?

The people at Blue Dragon found that boy, sold by his uncle, and they brought him out of there. For three weeks they worked with him, trying to ease the suffering and damage done to this innocent child. Three weeks later, he was riding on the back of a bicycle, behind Blue Dragon's director, an Australian ex-teacher named Michael.

And he smiled. And it's the smile of a child. A smile of a happy child. I wish I could show you that smile, but to protect his identity I can't. But it's there, and it's beautiful.

Go to their website. Read about it. Support them if you can, pass it along if you can't. (Or both!) If you want more, can handle more, they have an amazing blog at http://vietnamstreets.blogspot.com/

There is so much suffering in the world today it's hard to know where to start. The Blue Dragon Children's Foundation is a great way to make a difference.

Here's one of my favorites from the videos on their site,