“Mr” of the birds of the sky

I drove a Honda along Hoa Binh Street and then looked for a seat from the other side of the street, silently observing the image of a man in his 60s feeding the wild birds. The image is so interesting that I don’t dare to approach it, for fear of breaking that peaceful atmosphere. Waiting for the birds to eat their fill and fly away, I stopped to talk to him and wanted to hear his story.

Welcoming me with a familiar song: “Whoever comes back to Can Tho, please stop by Hoa Binh Avenue, there are so many pigeons of Mr. Surely anyone who goes back will remember Ninh Kieu and Tay Do forever…”. Mr. Chuong with a gentle face greeted me with a friendly smile. The story of his private life is also quite special. Up to now, he has turned late, but he still has not and does not think about getting married, having no wife and children, but in fact, with his job of selling ornamental plants to support himself, it is difficult to say anything about raising a flock of birds. over 300 children, so he has no valuable assets besides the number of ornamental plants piled on the tricycle.

More than 10 years ago, around 2011 while sitting and waiting for customers to buy ornamental plants, he was eating a piece of beef cake, peeled a piece of cake that had fallen to the ground, when a few sparrows came over to eat. He operated quickly and then flew up to the nearby area to eat with caution and fear. Feeling interesting and loving the birds, he peeled a piece of beef cake and pushed it a little further to feed them again. At first, maybe because the sparrows were afraid to come near, Mr. Chuong pushed the bonsai tree to another place to let them eat naturally.

Mr. Chuong excitedly said: After walking for a while, I stopped to observe and saw them swooping down to eat, at that time there must have been only about 5 to 6 animals. I’m so happy, it’s like the feeling of a father watching his toddler take his first steps. That point is the corner of the junction of Hoa Binh Street with Ngo Huu Hanh Street and now it is also a familiar spot for the “brothers” to focus on eating every day…

After those times, Mr. Chuong always ate part of everything to feed the birds of the sky, “at first there were only a few sparrows, then I don’t know why they talked to each other, but they invited more and more to come back, even more and more even. Even pigeons also fly back to eat when I appear, from a few to now, the brotherhood has grown to 300 …”, Mr. Chuong shared.

For the past 10 years, a tricycle full of ornamental plants has been roaming the streets of the inner city of Ninh Kieu district, but now Mr. Chuong has returned to the place to meet the birds to feed them, talk to them, and even talk to them. sing to them.

According to many people sitting at a cafe near this area, a flock of birds gathered around the skinny man like brain children. Curious, they approached to feed them, but they flew away.

No wife, no children, only birds as spiritual friends have been with Mr. Chuong for decades. Mr. Chuong does all kinds of things to earn money, as long as he has genuine money, such as selling ornamental plants, selling beef cakes, or selling lottery tickets. The profit he used to buy food for birds, sometimes rice, rice, sometimes beef cake… Many people saw his work as meaningful, so they contributed rice and money to buy food for the birds of the sky.

Mr. Chuong also did not know where the birds and pigeons came from, but every time it was time to eat, hundreds of birds came down from nowhere to eat deliciously. “It’s too bad, there were days when I was late to dinner and didn’t show up in time, they kept walking around waiting, I was perched on tree branches, pigeons were full of wires, electricity poles were waiting for their father, I wanted to break. intestines…”, Mr. Chuong said.

Listening to how Mr. Chuong explains in detail about the habits and how to take care of the birds, how to feed them is enough to show his heart and affection for them.

“In the beginning, when the number of birds was small, I ate bread or dusted rice and took the leftover rice for them. But later on, the number was more and more, there was not enough rice or beef cake to eat, sparrows ate less, but pigeons ate a lot, so I asked a few people, what do pigeons eat a lot People even joked that I was a pigeon eating green beans. I really thought I went to buy green beans but they didn’t eat. Only then did I find out that I was deceived by them, because people often say green bean porridge cooked with pigeons. There’s no such thing as a good joke …”, Mr. Chuong innocently recounted.

Proud to everyone whenever someone comes to ask, how many generations of birds have been raised on this street corner, in turn their descendants also come here and stick with him, fed and cared for by him. . There are many people who do good deeds, they buy sparrows and pigeons and bring them here to free them to join Mr. Chuong’s flock of birds. There were times when he went to sell ornamental flowers and met people who knew that he took care of birds like relatives, many people bought birds and sent him to raise them as merit.

Mr. Chuong was so worried about the birds from a young age that when they died he took care of burying them carefully. According to Mr. Chuong, in 2010, he took refuge, since then, he has only been a vegetarian, selling ornamental plants every day, just hoping to have enough money to eat 2 or 3 meals and take care of the birds. No home, no relatives, but Mr. Chuong is always busy with hundreds of birds. When he is tired, he always goes to the birds to sit and talk with them.

Mr. Chuong believes that his “brothers” seem to understand his situation as well as his feelings, because every time he talks, they are always around him and never leave…