Welcome to CHiLdrEn’s ARt! 

This webpage is dedicated to the artistic expression of street children in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. 

Approximately 9,000 Vietnamese children spend their days roaming the city streets. Many of them shine shoes. Many sell lottery tickets or chewing gum. Others simply beg. They might sleep under bridges or on park benches. They must constantly hide from aggressors and police. Though they've learned how to survive, they still face terrible risks that no child should ever have to face. 

In September 2004, as part of my Fulbright research, I began mentoring and teaching art to street boys at a safe house run by the Thao Dan Care Program. Who are these boys? What are their hopes? What do they fear? Who is family? Where is home? Here, I invite you to browse a selection of the children’s paintings that may answer some of these questions.   

Currently, as a first year medical student at Duke University, I am working to establish a long-term art program for the Thao Dan kids. We hope that our Street Children’s Art Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City will become an annual fundraising event! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me through email. If you'd like to make a donation, please see below. The Thao Dan children thank you for your compassion and support and wish you a happy Lunar New Year!  Chuc mung nam moi!

Please support our cause!

If you'd like to contribute to the positive growth and development of Thao Dan street children through Art, you may (1) follow the link to Thao Dan above for banking information, or (2) make an online donation through Paypal at www.paypal.com by entering the email address of Bill Manson, Director of Rossignol Fine Arts: bill@rossignolfinearts.com at the "Send Money" section.