Youngsters clean up canals in Ho Chi Minh City
Monday, January 16, 2023, 14:58 GMT+7
Dirty water flows, foul-smelling waste, or dozens of injection needles have not discouraged the Sai Gon Xanh (Green Sai Gon) squad, a group of young people in Ho Chi Minh City who voluntarily collect waste from canals, from pursuing the meaningful work even when the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday is around the corner.
On Sunday, or the 24th day of the 12th lunar month, other people hurriedly returned to their hometowns, tidied up and decorated their houses, or went shopping, while five members of the Sai Gon Xanh squad collected waste on a smelly canal under the An Phu Bridge in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City.
“Members in the group come from farming families, so they are not afraid of hardship and difficulties," said Nguyen Luong Ngoc, 27, whose nickname is Shin, the leader of the group.
“I formed this group as I was inspired by the Padawara group, which also pursues the same voluntary work in Indonesia.
“We upload videos [on social networks] so that viewers will feel like they are also joining our waste collection activities, thus spreading our messages to other people easily."
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| ‘Do not hesitate over filthiness and difficulties’ is the group’s spirit, said Ngo Nhat Duy, a 23-year-old resident in Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam, and a member of the Sai Gon Xanh squad. |
Despite protecting the environment, the group has been denigrated as wasting time, ‘a fool for others’ pains,' or vain attempts.
However, they ignore these comments and keep doing their voluntary work. Their only concern is many people’s littering habit, which has polluted the environment.
Therefore, after cleaning up canals, they ask local residents to erect such signs as 'Please do not litter' or 'No littering,' in the hope of improving local residents’ awareness of protecting the environment to turn Ho Chi Minh City into a green city.
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| Phan Nhan, a 23-year-old man from the Central Highlands of Dak Lak, said while raking garbage bags out of a canal that ‘members earlier worn Wellington boots and gloves only. We now have more personal protective equipment to avoid broken glass pieces and injection needles.' |
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| Chairs and cumbersome items lying at the bottom of canals are also collected. |
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| ‘Many canals and ditches are deep, so we are unable to wade into the water to pick up all the garbage. We sometimes fall into canals while trying to rake waste,’ Nhan retold. |
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| Carcasses, injection needles, and broken glass pieces are dangerous items to them. |
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| They pull a 60-kilogram mattress soaked in water and mud from the bottom of a river. |
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| They clean up canals between 6:30 am and 10:00 am every two to three days. They can collect 10, even 20 bags of waste per day. |
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| Many garbage trucks and sanitation workers help them transport garbage to landfills. Nguyen Van Hai, a sanitation worker, said, ‘Seeing them collect garbage, I feel happy and thankful.’ |
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| Anyone can be a member of the squad despite not directly working with them. One just needs to put waste in proper places and tidy up their neighborhood to become a member of the squad. |
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