"People in the area love my boys a lot so they've invited them to perform at many events," Nam said. "Some of them have won good prizes at dragon dance competitions. The dance is giving them fun and helping them earn money at the same time as they are homeless."
Nam set up the Long Nhi Duong Dance Club in 2010 after seeing some homeless boys dancing under the Cha Va Bridge in District 8. The club's name means Flying Dragons and had 10 members at first.
Le Van Nam
"Dragon dancing is very popular in our area, especially at events or festivals for children," he said. "When I came to watch them dance, I learnt that they were homeless or came from very poor families and were having to do odd jobs to earn money. So I was thinking of helping them earn some money with the dance."
The man shared that he was just 16 at that time and had a similar background to the boys and so he understood their situation.
"I also came from a poor family and had to drop out of school at the age of 11 to find work to support my parents," Nam said. "So I made friends with them and won their trust easily. However, I was a worker at a local factory at that time and earned a modest income so didn’t have much money to help them."
Nam decided to register for a dragon dance training course and then taught the boys. He also encouraged the boys to watch the performances by different groups to learn more skills. But it was not easy for the street boys to get booked for shows during the early days because people used to be afraid of their unruly behaviour.
"We had the first show in 2011 when a woman invited us to perform at her shop-opening ceremony," Nam recalled. "She paid us VND50,000 which was just enough to buy 10 dumplings for our 10 members. But we were very happy with that first show as people changed their minds about us, and since that we started to have more invitations."
After being given a place to stay by local authorities, Nam has seen more members. He said the boys consider themselves a family, calling Nam their father. Although having dropped out at an early age, Father Nam tried to send his children to school.
"We've so far admitted over 200 members to our family," he said. "Many of them have left the house after growing up and having stable jobs. But they're still helping me support their brothers here."
At present, the dance club has 40 members who are still living there. Father Nam said that he's never called for financial support from donors as he thinks that his children should be taught to support themselves.
A member of the club, Le Chi Phat, has just won a prize at the 2023 National Lion, Dragon and Unicorn Dance Competition. Phat decided to ask to join the family in 2014 after watching a performance of Long Nhi Duong.
Le Chi Phat
"My father died when I was small and my mother left me," the 19-year-old man said. "I used to live with my grandmother before she died. I've had a new loving family since joining the club. And with the great help from father Nam and many brothers here, I've become a helpful person and have a stable job."