Linh & Nga Child Workers Q&A Ben Thanh Night Market Vietnam

Hi Guys, I had the pleasure of running into Linh and Nga from Troy Nguyen's Helping poor child workers of Ben thanh night market video series Oct '18 when I visited Vietnam. Troy's last video showed that Linh had a skin disease and had to drop of out school. I'm happy to say that a year later, Linh is doing great, is back in school, and her skin is much better. I took the opportunity to treat them to something so we could sit down and ask them a few simple questions. I found it very interesting that they found the highly visible touristy places to be expensive and not good. They pointed to a chic place but I found those places to be expensive and not good either. They suggested ice cream a few times so that's what we decided on. Wondering if ice cream was something they only ate rarely, I asked when the last time they had it was. Nga said it was yesterday. They petty much ate ice cream every night i was with them. My mic got water damaged during the rainy season so there's static and the mic goes in and out sometimes but here's the interview in depth: How old are they? -- 15, but they may only be 14 as VN uses the Asian Age of Reckoning, which adds a year for time spent in the womb. They originally met Troy when Nga was 10 and Linh was 11 years old. They have grown much since then. When was the last time they saw Troy? -- It was in 2017, almost a year ago. They said they watch Troy's videos and like them. Do many people recognize them? -- Yes. Nga said many people come up to them and say they saw her on Youtube, which is very nice. Where do they live in HCM? -- They both rent rooms 2km away from the market. Nga stays with her grandmother and uncle. Linh stays with her parents. Linh's mom went home early to take care of her new 8 month old daughter. I see Linh's mom later so she must frequently make the trip back and forth. When will you be here again? -- Nga said that she has an important High School Entrance Exams to study for so she won't be here next year, but will be here the year after that. Later, Nga said that she might come for a month depending on how things go. Linh said that she'll be here for 1 month over summer vacation. Linh was held back a grade since her mom pulled her out of school to pay of loans. She should be entering grade 10 but is going into grade 9. How much do you make on average? -- It depends on how "Lucky" they are. If they aren't lucky or the market is closed, they make only 20-30k VND. If they're lucky, they can make 100-200k VND, and if someone gives them extra, they can make up to 300 VND a day. They said they get lucky "only little" but over the summer, they say their money is "Big." How do you spend your money? -- They said they spend it for things for school, like books, pens, new clothes, uniform, etc. Linh pays her own tuition (3,000,000 VND ~$130) but Nga's mother pays for Nga's tuition. Do you have cellphones? Linh does not. Nga doesn't either but she said she broke her Uncle's phone. What do you want to be when you're older? -- Nga said she wants to be rich so she can help homeless people and people who are like them. Linh too. They both have many dreams. Linh wants to be an English teacher. Nga wants to be a Tour Guide because her country is beautiful and she gets to travel. Do you know Ang Lee (Thu)? -- Yes, they know who she is and who her mother is. It dawned on me that they've been working there for year. I also saw the camaraderie vendors had with each other there (next video). What's your schedule like? -- They leave by bus to go to the market around 4-5pm and take a motorbike home after midnight. They like to sleep in the morning. They usually eat before coming and also eat around 9-10pm at a local noodle stall. They said that noodle place is good and costs only 20k VND. My inner foodie was triggered. They were nice enough to show me this place behind an alley where only locals knew about. The place delivered and I learned to recognize their bowls all over the area. It was there last few nights at the Night Market but they let me follow them around for a little bit which is where I began to see what their life was like there. Those observations will have to be for another time, but in the meantime, I hope you gain something from my videos. I was taken back by how polite and jovial they were, which is accurately reflected in Troy's videos but only more so in person. I have more videos and insights to share, so stay tuned. As always, may peace be with you!