Portrait behind the rustling sounds all night long

In the heart of the city, there are people who are attached to the dark night as a destiny. Ms. Le Xuan Thuy (born in 1984), a woman with a gentle smile and hands roughened by wind and dew, is one of the silent heroes who has contributed to cleaning up the capital. Ms. Thuy has been attached to the bamboo broom and the night shift since 2011, mainly in charge of busy streets in the Hoan Kiem area.

Her shift starts at 5 p.m. and only ends when "all the trash is gone" - a vague concept that sometimes lasts until dawn the next day. The income from this job is not high, just enough to cover living expenses. That dedication comes not only from financial responsibility but also from a special love for the job. Amidst the sweat and hardship, she still finds joy: "This job is hard but sometimes there are joys. Looking at the clean and airy streets after I clean them, I want to go to work the next day," she confided.

Ms. Thuy's honest and simple sharing is the explanation for her perseverance over the past 14 years, and the simple pride of a professional. That joy has always been the motivation for her to stick with it for more than a decade, turning the quiet manual work into a not-so-small mission.

The harshness of street cleaning

Working the night shift, Ms. Thuy and her colleagues not only fight against waste pollution but also against the weather and loneliness. The shift lasts from late afternoon to dawn, meaning that environmental workers have to face the bone-chilling cold of winter, or the scorching heat of summer. Waste is always a potential source of toxicity, the stench clings to the skin, and the risk of being stabbed by needles and sharp objects. Not only that, working on the streets late at night, Ms. Thuy and her colleagues always have to be alert to chaotic traffic and unexpected collisions.

They are lonely figures under the high-pressure lamps, working hard with small bamboo brooms to deal with tons of garbage dumped every day and their dedication is never small. Because it is a trade-off of their own health and time with their families to bring fresh air to the Capital. The calluses on her hands and those of her colleagues are not only traces of labor, but also silent medals proving perseverance, kindness and great responsibility.

But the tireless dedication of street cleaners is facing an ever-growing paradox as trash continues to pile up. As the clock strikes midnight, streets that were once lit up by late-night lights become “battlefields” of household trash.

This is not only natural waste but also traces of a "throwaway culture" lacking awareness: From hot foam boxes, scattered cigarette butts, to large bags of household waste dumped at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Ms. Thuy noticed that, despite the support of machines, the amount of waste still piled up higher, as if challenging the will of those who strive every minute to bring green space to the community.

The work of Ms. Thuy and her colleagues is not simply cleaning, but a constant race with community awareness. The hardship does not lie in the weight and pollution of the trash, but in the "bitter" repetition: Having just finished cleaning a street corner, just a few minutes later, a passerby accidentally or carelessly drops a bag of trash. The biggest obsession of street cleaners is not the cold night or physical fatigue, but the feeling of all their efforts being wasted, the mental fatigue when having to face the lack of respect for the environment. The cleanliness of the capital tonight must be paid for with sweat, effort and silent damage.

The woman in blue and her mission in the dark

In the end, what remains is not only the garbage dumps and the haunting, but also the extraordinary perseverance of those wearing the green uniforms of urban environmental workers. They are the ones who sow kindness and cleanliness on the streets. Their labor and dedication have turned the sweat that falls at night into opportunities so that every morning, millions of residents of the capital can wake up in the cool air and start a new day on green - clean - beautiful streets.

The image of a woman like Ms. Le Xuan Thuy becomes great in her simplicity. Over a decade of dedication, sacrificing time with her young children, facing cold and dangerous nights, and the passion for her profession has turned her into a silent warrior, fighting day after day for a single purpose: to exchange her own "sleepless nights" for "clean days" for everyone.

The dedication of Ms. Thuy and her colleagues deserves not only sympathy, but also respect and praise from the community. Look at their bamboo brooms, they are not just tools of labor, but also a symbol of responsibility and tireless love for the profession. So that every citizen when stepping onto the street, whether at dawn or midnight, can see the value of this clean gift; and so that the simple joy of those who clean the streets can be complete.

Article and photos: MAI CHI

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/phong-su/dem-trang-cua-nhung-nguoi-lam-sach-duong-pho-878829