The resonance of unpaid street cleaner

Regardless of rainy or sunny days and unlike most people, Dinh San Ha of Neighborhood 2, My Phuoc ward, Ben Cat town starts a new day after a cup of coffee to leave the house very early. Not to make a living, he volunteers to go to the street just for one thing: to make them cleaner and more beautiful.

Ha is next to a tricycle with the familiar tools accompanying him on his way around cleaning the trash

For the love of the roads

Visiting Ha's house on a hot afternoon, we met him with dozens of brooms and garbage cans. At first, I thought he was a broom seller. His house is on a busy street of My Phuoc ward, but his feet are still covered by his boots like he just gets home from work. The house he lives in is spacious and fully furnished in contrast to his hardworking figure as questions that could not be answered immediately flush my mind.

Pointing to a room that used to be the living room at the main entrance, Ha said now he was using it as a place to reinforce brooms and dustpans to sweep the street. Taking a big broom, Ha said: "After I bought these brooms, I made plastic handles to make them stronger and last longer, so that when sweeping the street, my back will not get tired." Pointing to a giant trash can next to it, he continued: “There is much garbage on the streets, so I have to make this trash can to collect quickly. If we want the roads to be clean, there must be many people cleaning and taking care of. I bought it and finished making it and left here; anyone who doesn't have a brush can come and use it."

Ha just finished speaking, and his niece added: "He must have spent more than a hundred million to buy a broom. For 5-6 years, he's given out nearly 500 brooms and 300 shovels!"

Ha talked about his time he grew up in Saigon as where he lived, the water flooded all the alleys every time the rainy season came. In 2012, he decided to sell all his land and houses leaving for Binh Duong to settle down.

Ha said: “This decision of mine was really right. In a new place, the roads are clean and beautiful, and my life seemed to have turned to a new page. The road is so beautiful, so we have to preserve it. Roads are for people to travel and the property of the people – the sweet fruits that later my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will enjoy. I have to do something to preserve it!”

Ha's main income is from leasing accommodation. Every month, his family earns tens of millions of VND, so the job of cleaning the streets is definitely not for him to make a living. He humorously said: “Every month, my wife gives me VND 5 million of allowances, which I think that organizing a dinner party is also not good, neither is drinking coffee nor traveling. So, I use the money to buy brooms; if I do not use them all, I will give them to my relatives, and make street cleaning tools that are still useful for life."

According to Ha, he used to spend his own money to hire 2 people to clean the streets by the hour at monthly pay of VND 3 million. He found it ineffective after 3 or 4 months, so he stopped. Ha said: “I want to spread the act of cleaning the streets so that all people are aware and participate. This job does not discriminate rich and poor. So, I think I can clean as much as I can myself. If anyone lacks a broom, I will give it to them, so that they don't have to worry about spending money to buy, just have a broom to clean the roads."

Keeping such thought in mind, almost every day, for about 6 years now, he goes out to clean the streets in the early mornings and late evenings. I asked, "So what time do you sleep?". He smiled and replied: "After cleaning, when the sun rises, I'll go back to sleep until noon; if you don't come at this time, I am in bed already."

Taking the advantage of walking around with Ha on some of the nearby DB8, DB4, NB7, NB9 roads which are clean without a puddle. If not mentioned, no one would know the clean roads have been thanks to the silent contribution of an old man of his sixties with a short stature and gray hair.

Standing on the DB8 road, he said: “You know, in these places before, every time heavy rain, water was left on the roadside unable to escape, leaving the water to soak for a long time. I was afraid that the road would be degraded, so I found a solution. After many times of trying one way after another, I finally took the machine to drill a few meters and put the 304 stainless steel pipe down to let the water drain. Taking me a little further, Ha continued: “These manhole covers used to have bad smells from the bottom; if they are closed, they can not drain the water. I've also experimented with ways to make sure it drains well without collecting litter and minimize odors as much as possible. There is one that ensures those criteria, but the durability is not long. Finally, I took the old rubber tarpaulin from the car to prevent the smell and still drain well.”

When I asked: "Where's the money for you to do these things?"

Ha did not speak but smiled.

Of course, we understand the smile of his as implicitly affirming that all expenses is on the amount of VND 5 million that his wife gives him each month.

Silent street cleaning

In the quiet night, Ha was still sweeping rubbish and smiling happily: "Every day I can only sweep about 1 road because every road is big and wide." Just like that, during the past 6 years, wherever Ha went, the street was clean. Ha's image and work have spread and moved people's hearts. When knowing and hearing about Ha, many people admire him even more, thereby become more aware of joining hands to protect the environment in residential areas without throwing garbage indiscriminately; every alley is swept and cleaned daily.

Le Van Thanh, a resident of Quarter 2, My Phuoc ward, said: “Ha is the typical example in the neighborhood in preserving the image of the streets. His work seems to be normal, but not everyone can do it and it is worth for each of us to reflect and examine ourselves to raise the awareness of preserving environmental sanitation."

Just like that, every day like every other days, around 1-2 am, Ha drives a tricycle to do his duty for life. Over half of his life, perhaps the car he is most interested in is not a comfortable car but a scratched trunk containing a lot of sewer repair equipment, drills, brooms, shovels and trash cans.

The familiar NB12 road becomes wider when the traffic is gone, the small figure of Ha stops the three-wheeler parked by the roadside and then holds a broom, diligently sweeping the trash in the night. Small but agile figure wriggles around the sidewalk and every green tree along the road to clean things up. Wherever he sweeps, he collects garbage in the cart, driving it to the gathering points to dump. Every day, people see the shadow of an unpaid laboratory person vaguely appearing on the roads to collect all the garbage for life.

Reported by Huynh Thuy – Transated by Vi Bao