BY: THE PLAID ZEBRA
You’d be hard pressed to find a more interesting vagabond than Cao Boi.
Cao Boi, pronounced “cowboy,” is an ex-Vietnam War refugee, former pirate, 2006 Survivor contestant, and served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Cao Boi also hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2013 and traveled across the country on a bicycle.
Claiming an 8 year history of homelessness—which he says is now behind him—Cao Boi sees himself as a “master wanderer.”
Cao Boi takes pride in his abilities as a healer, a skill he had often traded for a place to sleep. “I don’t just come to your house and do nothing—eat, shit and sleep. Nah, I’ll fix your camera, or fix a back, a leg—whatever they need, I’ll fix it.”
Cao Boi now claims to operate a non-profit called Feed More Rice, which rewards kids who attend school—and allows parents to manage without the necessity of child labour—by giving them rice to bring home for their family.
“We went from 18 students, up to about 52. It’s called the cowboy learning centre.” Says Cao Boi.
Cao Boi focuses specifically on “illegal aliens,” kids who are undocumented, non-citizens in the country.
