The story of an old man who specializes in picking up trash in Hoi An ancient town
Mr. Thuong “crazy” picking up Hoi An trash is what people say about him. He “eats at home, carries prison and goods” because he wants to contribute to making the old town more and more beautiful.
“Nguyen Thuong Garbage Picking Company Limited”
At 6 a.m., quietly in the early morning mist is the silhouette of a skinny man with a trolley walking towards Cua Dai beach, pushing the cart while picking up pieces of trash by the roadside. His name is Nguyen Thuong (born in 1960, residing in Cua Dai ward, Hoi An city).
For the past 6 years, Mr. Thuong has been wandering the streets of Hoi An ancient town to pick up trash. He even went to the homes of the elderly or schools to help clean up without taking a dime.
Mr. Nguyen Thuong, who is called “the old man of garbage” in Hoi An ancient town.
“Nguyen Thuong Garbage Picking Co., Ltd”, or Mr. Thuong “crazy”, “old man garbage” is the witty name of Hoi An people for Mr. Thuong when asked. “People see that I pick up trash for free, but I’m responsible for the environment, so I call it that. I’m happy to do small jobs and contribute to cleaning the environment,” said Mr. Thuong, laughing.
With thin gloves and honeycomb sandals, Mr. Thuong still silently devotes himself to the old town.
Not only dedicating himself, contributing to the society to protect the environment, Mr. Thuong also many times pondered how to change the consciousness of many people about littering, thereby joining hands. protect the environment longer and more effectively.
“Among the trash thrown on the side of the road, there are also plastic bottles, beer cans, paper boxes… so I collect them and sell them for money and save to buy iron to build a trolley to collect more trash,” said Mr. Thuong. To share.
“Nguyen Thuong Garbage Picking Company Limited” is the witty name of the Hoi An people for him.
It’s not just a garbage truck. His car also has a clear message with two lines of banners “For the future of our children, let’s join hands to keep the environment clean – clean – beautiful”, “Small actions, big meanings”. “Please protect the environment, do not use plastic bags, do not throw plastic bags in public places”.
The messages are like a call to remind everyone to join hands to protect the environment. With Mr. Thuong’s actions, the propaganda messages have gradually gained results. In the past 6 years, the image of an old man stooping to pick up trash has become familiar.
For the past 6 years, he has been doing this job without receiving a dime.
“Many times when I went to pick up trash, the sanitation brothers saw me and waved hello, then stopped to let me empty the trash, the neighbors also voluntarily put their garbage in the bin. The street gradually became cleaner. I am very happy because of this. there,” said Mr. Thuong. “Running away” to pick up trash
We followed him to pick up trash. As he walked, he talked about the opportunity to come to this profession of “eating at home and serving in prison”. He said, 6 years ago, while working, he suddenly collapsed due to a terrible disease.
When he regained consciousness, his ears were no longer able to hear, and his limbs were paralyzed. He was hospitalized for nearly half a year but the disease did not progress, his family had to take him home to take care of him.
Mr. Thuong does this “wholesome” work voluntarily, he wants to devote to Hoi An.
“At that time, everyone thought I couldn’t walk anymore, but I tried to practice to improve my health. At first, I kept falling up and down, but when I walked a lot, I became healthy and my illness began to subside. “, recalled Mr. Thuong.
After walking, he thought he had to do something to repay the favor. When he went to exercise, he saw many plastic bags on the roadside, so he came up with the idea of picking up trash to protect the environment.
Not only picking up trash himself, he also propagated people to join hands to protect the environment.
Like that, every day, the “friend” who always accompanies him every time he leaves the house are two bags that are always filled with garbage in the places that he passes.
There are people who find it very difficult to understand when they see him wandering around to pick up trash, some are even angry when he is reminded about littering, they consider him “crazy”, free to work, old age not worried about himself. also go to do “free time” things.
“They say I’m crazy, crazy, my wife and children hear that, but I’m determined, when my pain is gone, I’ll go to work to repay life, but I’m not crazy or crazy,” he said. Love said.
Mr. Thuong next to a “special” car with a message he thought up.
Despite those rumors, Mr. Thuong still quietly continued his “crazy” work every day. But because he was afraid that his family would find out and protest, he “run away” to pick up trash.
Recalling the time when her husband was rumored to be crazy, wandering in the middle of the night to collect trash, Ms. Le Thi Bay (Mr. Thuong’s wife) confided in a choked voice: “When I heard the news, I cried a lot. Me and my children stopped me. I’m not allowed to do it anymore, but he said that he went to work for the society, not for anyone, no matter what they say, I just do it and slowly everyone will understand”, Ms. Bay shared.
The messages are printed on the car as a call to remind everyone to be aware of trash disposal.
Ms. Nguyen Xuan Phuong (Mr. Thuong’s daughter) still vividly remembers saying bad derision about three words from her neighbor that caused her family to suffer a lot of mental trauma.
“They told me that my father was crazy, which made me very sad. Our mother and sisters tried their best to prevent him from doing it, but he still refused,” Phuong said.
Despite the bad rumors, his wife and children tried their best to prevent it, but with the determination to return the word for life, Mr. Thuong persuaded his family to let him complete the promised job with his heart. Understanding his wish, the children agreed and asked him to change his “working” hours to ensure better health.
Mirror of environmental protection
Although his family was poor, his health declined, he had to wear hearing aids and had to spend tens of millions of dong for medicine, but Mr. Thuong frankly refused to ask for support from the Ward People’s Committee.
“I do it for the sake of words, not for the money. A clean environment is my joy. For nearly 2 years now, I have been ill, so I rarely go to pick it up again, I also feel inadequate. If my health is stable again , I will continue this work until I can’t go anymore”, Mr. Thuong shared.
Mr. Le Cong Sy – Chairman of the People’s Committee of Cua Dai ward, Hoi An city – said that Mr. Thuong used to be a soldier stationed on Cu Lao Cham island. Despite his illness, Mr. Thuong is always enthusiastic about environmental protection. Considering his family’s situation, the locality offered to provide financial support, but he refused.
“He said what he did was completely voluntary and wanted to contribute to Hoi An. For nearly 2 years now, Mr. Thuong has been ill, so he rarely does garbage collection again, Mr. Thuong’s work deserves to be an example for everyone. follow and multiply,” said Mr. Sy.
According to Dan Tri
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vietnamnet.vn – Read the original article here
