First off, a little background on what it means to be a street youth in HCMC. There are four categories of youth: Category A, meaning the street youth are living and working on the streets and are disconnected from their families; Category B, where the street youth are still living and working on the streets but with their families; Category C, which contains youth that work in the streets but sometimes return to their home; and finally, Category D, who are immigrants who work in the streets but rent a room or house to live in with other relatives or friends. Most of the children that Save the Children works with in its projects fall under categories A and B, and my mission over the course of my time working with them was to do interviews and document "success stories" for Project NAM, one of the first projects in the NGO community to target its efforts specifically to street youth. The children that I met with ranged in age, amount of time spent on the street, and methods of earning income, but it's clear that the ones who had taken part the most in Project NAM (especially as peer educators) were best equipped with healthy life skills.
Thursday morning began with a trip to September 23rd Park with three colleagues from Save the Children. At the park, my colleagues quickly surmised that the park was, at the moment, not a safe place for the street youth because the police had been doing raids recently. During these raids, the police scout out street youth (who, by virtue of their existence in HCMC without the appropriate paperwork and identification cards, are illegal) and send them to prison or "rehabilitation centers" for drug users and sex workers (which essentially means being confined to a small room with 20-30 other men for years at a time). Yet we were still able to speak with two female sex workers who told us that they have been able to participate in a few Project NAM meetings. These meetings taught them how to use condoms appropriately and understand more about STI and HIV prevention. In fact, one of the sex workers told us that with the help of Project N.A.M., she is able to go for an STI screening every three months.
After these interviews, we went over to Phu Lam park, where there is an active group of street youth that, through Project NAM, organize club meetings run by a social worker and facilitated by Peer Educators (who are street youth themselves). I had met some of these street youth on my last visit to HCMC, but saw many new faces too. When we first arrived, the group was setting up for the meeting, and we took advantage of this time to interview a 21-year-old street youth who had been involved in Project NAM activities for about two months. He said that he was grateful to the project for helping him develop a network of other street youth, as well as for teaching him about STI/HIV prevention and condom use.
Next, I had the pleasure of taking part in one of the street youth club meetings. It took place at a coffee shop in Phu Lam park, and there were about fifteen or so street youth present (with some leaving and others coming as the meeting went on). Because the coffee shop is located right next to a foot path in the park, there was a constant stream of passers-by stopping to see what the meeting was about; one young man even joined in for a short time. The subject of this meeting was HIV/AIDS, and the social worker and Peer Educators led the group through discussions about the disease itself, prevention methods, and the ways that stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS can manifest, among other topics. The group was very engaged in the discussion, and the Peer Educators showed that they have developed some fantastic leadership skills through their roles running group sessions under Project NAM.
After the group meeting, I got to interview two impressive Peer Educators who, thanks largely to Project NAM, have begun to transform their lives in a big way. The first participant was a 28-year-old man named Phi, who has been living on the street since he was 11. He noted that he's used a variety of tactics to earn money over the years, from pimping to begging to stealing, but that over the past two years while he's been involved with Project NAM, he's been able to transform his life. He no longer uses drugs, pimps, steals, etc., and is committed to teaching other street youth about the realities of STIs/HIV and how to have sex and use drugs safely. The second person we met with was a talented 22-year-old Peer Educator named Sin who has been living on the street for nearly three years. Project NAM, she said, is one of the best programs for street youth that she's ever seen. She told us that she never wants Project NAM to end because it has made such a big impact on her life and the lives of other street youth in Phu Lam park.
After a wonderful few hours in Phu Lam park, we said goodbye to the youth, grabbed a quick dinner (Chinese food!), and headed to another club meeting for street youth in a different district. This meeting was even more lively than the previous one - we walked in and immediately everyone started singing, dancing, and laughing. This club, I learned, has been operating for two months using Project NAM funds. Three Peer Educators were present, all of whom have transformed their lives thanks to the project; there was also a social work student from Open University helping to run the meeting. Being at this club meeting, like the one before it, helped me see what an amazing impact these group meetings are having on the lives of the street youth in HCMC. Now, they have a place to hang out, learn, talk, and make friends, even if it's just for an hour or two each week.
In fact, this afternoon, one of the street youth from the club meeting the night before came to our office for an interview. This 29-year-old male has been living on the street for thirteen years, but decided a month before joining in Project NAM activities one year ago to change his life. Before, he was earning money from stealing, being a pimp, etc., but now he earns money from being a Peer Educator for Project Nam and buying and selling mobile phones. He said that Project NAM has helped equip him with the skills to earn money in a positive way, and that he is actively - on a daily basis! - meeting with street youth around Phu Lam park and other parts of the city to educate them about STI/HIV prevention. When asked how Project NAM and other street youth programs could improve in the future, he said that more needs to be done for children living on the streets, as they often undergo serious abuse. He was by far one of the most impressive street youth I was able to meet during this trip!
After interviewing him, I went with my colleagues to hand out moon cakes and milk cartons to poor children in District 5. The moon cakes are to celebrate a festival that takes place during the middle of August in the lunar calendar (which falls on this coming Monday, September 12). There were tons of children and there parents who came up to receive the moon cakes, many of whom bore with me as I attempted to practice my Tieng Viet (aka Vietnamese). Then, two of my colleagues and I traveled to another club meeting, this time in Thang Long district. It was raining pretty hard, which meant that less street youth showed up for this meeting than usual. But there was still a good showing. And because the topic of this club meeting's discussion was about HIV/AIDS and stigma reduction, we were able to play the game from Dartmouth with all of the youth. They had some helpful suggestions for how to make it even better. At the end of the meeting, I did another interview with a peer educator from Thang Long, a 19-year-old boy who had moved to the streets two years ago when his parents got divorced and he was sent to live with his grandmother. After over a year engaging in drug use, stealing, and other forms of earning money (and even spending time in jail), this young man has transformed his life - he now works five days a week as a Peer Educator for Project NAM, lives with his mother, and tries to make sure that his friends (especially drug users) are living safe lives and avoiding behaviors that will put them at risk for HIV/AIDS.
Here are some more pictures from yesterday and today - as you can see, it has been an amazing adventure so far!
^At the moon cake delivery in District 8 this evening.
Tomorrow and Sunday, I'll be in An Giang province with some colleagues, conducting more interviews with street youth at an outdoor event at An Giang University. More stories and pictures to follow!
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