In the first in a weekly series we ask expats to describe their Vietnam. This week Michael Brosowski tells of a “complex country where hope and sorrow can co-exist”.

Every expatriate living in Vietnam, and every tourist passing through, wants to mould Vietnam in their own image – ever so slightly, of course.

We mostly deny this, and see this as somehow wrong, but we all do it. Remember the campaign to get Vietnamese motorbike riders to wear helmets? Most expats stood right behind that and cheered when the helmet law was finally passed.

Ever complained about your neighbor’s singing karaoke, or gone ballistic at the incessant honking on the roads? These are all examples of us trying to change Vietnam to suit ourselves a little more.

I came to Vietnam in 2002, thinking that I would find a teaching job and spend my spare time bumming about having fun. But in starting a charity that helps street kids, I too have made a bold statement that I want to change Vietnam… or at least, one aspect of it.

During my first months living in Hanoi, I met countless teenagers working on the streets; they were mostly shining shoes, and sending the money they made back home so their younger sisters and brothers could go to school. These shoe shine boys were hungry for education. As a school teacher myself, I was touched by the nobility of this, and instantly knew I wanted to help.

Equally, I was shocked by the way I saw these kids being mistreated by society at large. On many occasions, I saw street kids being pushed aside, sworn at, and manhandled, simply because they were poor and working on the street.

Having worked in Vietnam for seven years, have I succeeded in making any changes for the benefit of street kids? I know for sure that I have played a role in changing the fortunes and futures of some hundreds of kids. There are young adults now in school, university and good jobs who were previously living on the streets, or had never thought they’d have the chance to study again. This is deeply satisfying; but I am not sure if I have had any impact at all on people’s attitudes to street kids. I think that will take many more years to change.

In one other field of work I am much more confident of having had a positive effect on both the individual and society. Back in 2005, I became aware of the problem of domestic trafficking of children, from central Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City. Girls and boys alike were being taken by unscrupulous adults to work on the streets or in garment factories, for little or no pay, and in the most awful conditions imaginable.

I believe that my involvement over these past few years has contributed to some significant changes for the better. I have seen about 50 trafficked children repatriated to their villages; most are back in school now, and one is even studying on a scholarship overseas. From the streets of Saigon to an international school in Singapore – that’s an amazing story.

And on the societal level, I have also been a part of some terrific changes. In 2005, this issue of domestic trafficking was rarely mentioned, and was nowhere on the national agenda. Not many people seemed aware of the problem, and nobody knew how to deal with it. Today, things have really changed. Newspapers and TV programs have taken up the cause; and government officials in central Vietnam are eager to cooperate with each other and with international organisations to keep kids out of the hands of traffickers. It’s been exciting to be a part of that change.

My Vietnam is a complex country, where hope and sorrow co-exist and change is so rapid that anybody who thinks they can plan for five years down the track is out of their mind. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to be here and make some small differences for a people who hunger for self-advancement.

For more information go to http://www.streetkidsinvietnam.com.

Michael Brosowski