A car repairman - the soul of the countryside
For more than 15 years, Mr. Truong Van Hong (75 years old, often called Bay Hong, living in Nhon Phu hamlet, Nhon Ai commune, Can Tho city) has been working hard in a quiet job: both repairing cars and beautifying his hometown with simple but meaningful things.
Every day, when the sky was still dark, Mr. Bay Hong began his familiar journey on the nearly 3 km long road leading through Nhon Phu hamlet. With a coconut broom, a trash can, a pruning pull and an old conical hat, he walks for exercise, sweats trash, puts grass, and pruning green trees along the road. The leaves, plastic bottles or plastic bags are all classified by hand for proper treatment.
Not stopping there, he also personally planted more flowers and trees in the vacant land, turning the already dusty rural road into a tree-lined road, brilliant with color.
Coming from a poor family, who had worked as a rice grinder for 30 years, Mr. Bay Hong switched to car repair when he was over 40 years old. Thanks to his strong skills, he has been able to take advantage of many materials such as iron pipes, wheels, barrels, etc. to create useful tree care tools.
In particular, a bicycle with a water bar helps water plants along the road and a bicycle sprayed pesticides to the rows of trees along the road. Two simple inventions, with a total cost of only over 9 million VND, help save significant effort and time.
"I work as a car repairman, and being able to use used items is fun. If I can do anything that is beneficial to the people, to keep the village roads clean and beautiful, my heart will feel healthy and worth living", Mr. Bay Hong shared with a gentle smile.
Thanks to the efforts of the tools, the Nhon Ai hometown road is now always green, clean and beautiful, becoming a familiar destination for people every morning.
Spreading the spirit of beautiful living
Ms. Le Trinh (27 years old, Can Tho City) shared that every morning when she went to work, she met Mr. Bay Hong who was sweeping trash and watering the plants. Some days it rains, he still goes out to work.
"Seeing him, we felt ashamed if he was littered. Thanks to them, the people here are much more aware of preserving the environment, said Ms. Trinh.
Mr. Dang Huynh (38 years old, Can Tho City) said that he not only beautifies the village roads, but also inspires many young people.
Not only preserving the landscape, Mr. Bay Hong and four friends also set up a charity box farm. The group was supported with 16 boxes and presented with 2 boxes and 25 kg of rice and necessary items for families of people who passed away in difficult circumstances.
From a simple auto repairman, Mr. Bay Hong has become a "people who patch up the soul of the countryside", contributing to making Nhon Ai greener, cleaner, and more humane.
Recently, Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Truong Canh Tuyen signed and issued a Directive on organizing the Campaign for the entire population to participate in environmental protection in the city.
Accordingly, the city is urgently reviewing, developing and implementing urgent contents that need to be resolved to ensure environmental protection after the merger and operation of local governments at both levels, maximizing the advantages of landscape and environment to continue to realize the goal of "Green and Clean Can Tho", being an ecological, civilized, modern city imbued with the cultural identity of rivers and streams in the Mekong Delta.
