Silently for clean streets

Environmental sanitation is a hard job because in addition to going to work late and coming home late, workers often have to face lurking dangers and pathogens arising during the waste collection process. Despite the hardship, there are still many female cleaners of Viet Tri Urban Environment and Services Joint Stock Company who do not mind the difficulties, silently and diligently cleaning day and night, contributing to building a green - clean - beautiful city.

On the occasion of the 94th anniversary of Vietnamese Women's Day (October 20, 1930 - October 20, 2024), Phu Tho Newspaper reporters had a conversation with Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai and Ms. Doan Thi Hong Thanh of Group 3, Environmental Enterprise 2 to understand more about the work of female cleaners.

Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai.

Reporter: The nature of urban environmental sanitation work is inherently hard, facing garbage and dirt all year round, working hours are from midnight to rooster crow... So, what motivated you to decide to choose this job?

Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai: Among the 245 female environmental sanitation workers of the Company today, I am one of the longest-serving, with nearly 20 years in the profession. I decided to choose a job that many people still say requires endurance and good health to be able to handle, but I remember when I first started working, I weighed less than 40kg, and my legs and arms were very weak. But time has passed so quickly that now I have been ranked among the "veterans" by the women in the Company. I simply think that every job has its own hardships and joys. Every day, I contribute my efforts to clean the streets so that when people wake up early in the morning to go to work, children go to school... on clean and beautiful streets, I am happy. It is all because of my passion and love for the job that has helped me overcome difficulties, determined to stick with it until I am old enough to retire.

Ms. Doan Thi Hong Thanh: I came to this profession quite by chance. In early 2022, I had to write a resignation letter at a garment enterprise after 13 years of working because there were no orders and the workers' income was unstable. At that time, I saw that Viet Tri Urban Environment and Services Joint Stock Company needed to recruit sanitation workers with a guaranteed salary, so I decided to change jobs. In the early days of my career, I was also very confused, not knowing the names of streets, alleys, and alleys. Thanks to the guidance and mentoring of my seniors, I was able to quickly integrate and get used to the work and the roads. Now, I am used to the blue protective gear, the sound of brooms, and the unpleasant stench from garbage as an indispensable part of my daily life.

Reporter: As the Team Leader, what tasks does Ms. Mai have to undertake every day to help team members complete their work in the best way possible?

Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai: My team 3 consists of 20 female cleaners whose job is to clean the following streets: Hung Vuong, Quang Trung, Chau Phong, Ha Lieu, Le Quy Don... and the entire Gia Cam and Minh Nong wards with a total length of about 100km, each person is responsible for cleaning 4-5km of road each session. For streets B deep in the alleys, far from the garbage collection point, the women often have to start cleaning at 1am and work continuously until 5am to ensure completion of the job. The day shift is divided into 2 time periods: from 6am to 10am and from 3pm to 7pm. Regardless of rain, cold or hot weather, the women go out in all directions to do their job on time. After completing work each day, I often go to check the routes to promptly support the sisters in areas where there are problems or too much garbage, helping everyone complete the work in the best way.

Reporter: Amidst the bustling flow of people going back and forth, do you ever feel sad because you have to face garbage every day, while other women are more comfortable and have better clothes?

Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai: We, the cleaning ladies, joke with each other that our job is always incomplete: "Eating with my husband for half a meal, sleeping with my husband for half a night". Unlike other jobs, other women get to dress nicely, wear clean clothes, and put on pretty makeup, while we always wear protective work uniforms, our faces covered, only our eyes exposed. How can we not feel sad, especially on New Year's Eve when everyone is gathered with their families, but female environmental sanitation workers like us are away from home. On October 20th or March 8th, the ladies get to wear Ao Dai to take pictures here and there, while we still diligently do our daily work.

Ms. Doan Thi Hong Thanh: For me, it is also sad, but I still have to be steadfast, overcome it and then be happy with the joy of work when looking at the newly cleared roads, airy sidewalks. Every job has its good points, ours is the same. Perhaps most of us are in the same situation, so we, the cleaning ladies, are very close and often help and protect each other. My husband, children and even my parents-in-law are very interested, encourage and share this hard work of mine. That is the greatest comfort for me to continue to stick with this job.

Ms. Doan Thi Hong Thanh.

Reporter: Can you share with readers the most memorable memories during your time working in this field?

Ms. Doan Thi Hong Thanh: I remember the strange feeling the first days I got used to the hand-pushed garbage truck and the indispensable items such as the broom and shovel to sweep the trash. In the first days of my job, the sisters in the team let me work with them to get used to collecting trash and loading it neatly onto the truck. After that, being alone on a long stretch of deserted road at 1-2 am felt scary and difficult, because I had never gone anywhere alone at midnight like that before. It took me a whole month to overcome myself, to learn the job, to get used to the routes, and to know where people often dumped trash. Once, I had just pushed the garbage truck a few steps when a resident standing on the 3rd floor threw a trash bag right behind me. Seeing the pile of trash thrown on the street, I was really "shocked", both angry and sad. But then I still had to go back and clean it up because that was the job of a janitor.

Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai: Due to the nature of the job, women often encounter all kinds of people in society such as: drug addicts, drunks... they often tease or ask for money. I still remember that night when I had just started working for about a year, I was pushing a garbage truck down the slope near the gate of Viet Tri High School, a young man on a motorbike teased me, making me so scared that my hands were shaking and I crashed the garbage truck into my family's car parked on the sidewalk. I was scared and didn't know what to do, afraid that the homeowner would ask me to pay compensation, where would I get the money, and afraid that the company would criticize me. The incident that happened that night took me a few days to come to my senses. Luckily, the car owner was very sympathetic and forgave me without holding me responsible. Since then, I have been more careful in my work and feel somewhat comforted.

Female workers of Viet Tri Urban Environment and Services Joint Stock Company diligently collect garbage day and night, contributing to keeping the city's landscape clean and beautiful.

Reporter: Viet Tri City is growing more and more, leading to an ever-increasing amount of household waste. So what do you wish for to make your work less difficult?

Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai and Ms. Doan Thi Hong Thanh: In reality, many people lack awareness in throwing garbage in the right place, classifying garbage, and even complying with garbage collection hours. That affects the work intensity of environmental sanitation workers. In the past, many people often showed their attitude towards workers like us, but now, only occasionally do households have inappropriate attitudes and behavior. We only need to remind them and they will apologize and change their daily littering habits. We just hope that everyone will be more aware of garbage and the act of littering so that after the night shift of urban workers, the streets and roads will be restored to their clean appearance, waiting for a new day. From there, contributing to building a Viet Tri city that is increasingly green - clean - beautiful.

Reporter: Thank you very much for the conversation and I wish you good health and more love for your job to contribute to building an increasingly green - clean - beautiful Viet Tri city.

Hong Nhung (performed)

Source: https://baophutho.vn/lang-tham-cho-nhung-tuyen-pho-sach-dep-221269.htm