Doan's story

This is a story of a boy named Nguyen Van Doan, a former street child who thanks to Plan has exchanged his dangerous, wandering lifestyle for a stable, safe and happy future.

Doan’s world changed when his parents divorced not long after his fifth birthday. “Nobody took care of me, my father married a new wife, who did not want to care for me and my mother went to China alone in search of a better life”.

As a result Doan left his hometown of Hai Phong and hitchhiked to several cities including Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Ho Chi Minh City and finally Hanoi. Living on the streets was tough, “when I felt hungry I would beg for food, and when I felt sleepy I would sleep under any bridge or in a corner of a market”.

Young and vulnerable to exploitation, Doan was bullied by older children into committing crimes for them. “One time, I was forced by older kids to steal a motorbike in Hang Bai street and was unfortunately caught by the police who beat me nearly to death.” 

At other times when Doan was caught by the police he was sent to a Correction School, Compassionate House, or drop-in center, where he struggled to comply with their strict rules after living independently on the street, and often ran away.

A counselor from the Street and Working Children Project (SWCP) made contact with Doan and encouraged him to pursue vocational training to build a better life for himself. Through Plan’s SWCP Doan was sponsored to attend a training course as a stone carver. He is now off the streets and shares a small room with other trainees in a ward in Hanoi.

“Like other Vietnamese workers, everyday I work 8 hours starting from eight in the morning till twelve with a siesta of two hours and four hours of work in the afternoon. I am very busy now but I like the work very much.” Doan is now earning enough money to even send some home to his father and stepmother.

“I am proud of my work – I have become a stone artisan. My dream now is to save up enough money to buy a small house and get married in the future”. 

Plan's Street and Working Children Project (SWCP) aims to protect many of the street children and working children in Hanoi, Danang and Hue most of whom have moved from other urban areas and rural provinces. Hanoi has one of the largest populations of street children.