"Lighting up" the green living movement

Mr. Bui not only keeps the living space cleaner but also raises green awareness in the community. His work has contributed to spreading the movement throughout the village, creating a new look for his hometown.

A corner of Trung Nam Loc village (Phuc Tho commune).

Old, but not restless

In a small, simple house, Mr. Kieu Huu Bui, with his small figure, silver hair, and gentle voice, recalls his youth when he served in the army. When he returned to his hometown, he continued to participate in local work, then retired to his daily life, but the fire of responsibility to the community and the spirit of dedication to his homeland never faded...

For many years, the road from Mr. Bui's house leading to the village cultural house connecting to the Quan Ba historical site and then to the East gate hamlet has always had his footprints every morning and every afternoon. The old man's thin figure, white hair, brown clothes, simple plastic sandals, diligently sweeping trash, weeding, taking care of flower beds along the road... has become familiar to the local people.

Talking to Mr. Bui, despite his old age, his legs are a bit slow, his back is a bit hunched, but his health is still supple and clear. He happily said that every day, he wakes up at 4:30, after cleaning the yard, he then goes out to sweep the village road. Some days, Mr. Bui sweeps twice in the morning and afternoon. After sweeping, he also carefully picks grass, watering each flower bush and bush that he has planted over the years.

“Although I am old, my health is still good. I do light work to stay healthy. I want to contribute to keeping the environment clean and beautiful first, ensuring the health of myself, my family members, and then the whole community. When the village roads are neat and garbage is collected, there are fewer pathogens...", Mr. Bui said happily.

Mr. Bui said that his work always receives the attention of many villagers. “Some days, seeing that I have been working for a long time, my children and neighbors, who are also worried about my health, remind me: “It’s clean, let’s sweep tomorrow” or “It’s sunny today, you should go to bed early”… The concern and encouragement of everyone makes me feel very warm. Then there are many days when the villagers also join hands to hold brooms to work together, I feel happy when the village roads are clean, the village becomes more beautiful every day”, Mr. Bui shared.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Sinh, a resident of Trung Nam Loc village, emotionally shared: "At first, the villagers thought Mr. Bui was just doing it for fun in his old age. But as the years passed, that simple habit was still maintained regularly for decades without stopping, making us truly respect him and see him as a typical example to follow. Just looking at him, we felt we had no reason to be lazy. So from the village's environmental sanitation campaigns, everyone enthusiastically responded. Now, environmental sanitation is no longer a private matter, but has become a common task of the community."

Mr. Kieu Huu Bui and people of Trung Nam Loc village (Phuc Tho commune) clean up village roads and alleys.

Multiplying love for homeland

Party Secretary of Trung Nam Loc village Nguyen Dinh Huong commented that Mr. Kieu Huu Bui's work is not noisy, does not need anyone to remind him, is regular like a familiar routine, like the persistent flow of love for his homeland. Thanks to that, the space of Trung Nam Loc village is always fresh, clean and beautiful. At his old age, Mr. Bui has "fueled" the bright, green, clean and beautiful movement in Trung Nam Loc, helping this movement become more vibrant, attracting the joint efforts of the whole people. On holidays, Tet or the recent 80th anniversary of National Day September 2, Trung Nam Loc village launched an environmental sanitation campaign, almost every house had people participating in sweeping, planting and taking care of flowers along the road, adjusting the lighting, hanging the national flag... The village roads and alleys in the village are not only clean but also full of beautiful flowers.

Trung Nam Loc Village Chief Bui Thanh Tung added: "In the movement to build a new, advanced, model rural area in Phuc Tho commune, the government has launched many programs to improve village roads, build self-managed roads, plant flowers, light up rural roads... Without the people's response, all plans will be difficult to succeed. Mr. Kieu Huu Bui himself has become a "symbol" for the community to act together. People in the village often joke that when they see him sweeping the trash, they cannot sit still. It is that perseverance and silence that has turned individual actions into a common way of life, making the village and neighborhood relationship more closely connected."

According to Mr. Bui Thanh Tung, Trung Nam Loc village currently has 380 households, their lives mainly depend on agriculture , some households work as carpenters, make tofu, trade at Gach market... In recent years, responding to the movement to build new rural areas, the village has improved a lot. People together socialized to paint nearly 200m² of vivid murals. The cultural house was invested by the State but lacked operating equipment, people continued to socialize to purchase 100 sets of tables and chairs, speakers and install a loudspeaker system to serve local events. In particular, the cleanliness and tidiness of the village also created favorable conditions for the village to organize cultural exchange activities.

Mr. Tung added that in the village there is the T78 Friendship School, under the Ministry of Education and Training . This is a school that trains many foreign students, mainly from Laos. For many years, thousands of Lao students have been welcomed by local households to live and study in the "3 together" homestay model with the locals: eating together, living together and participating in community cultural activities. The model creates a warm, cohesive atmosphere, helping foreign students understand more about Vietnamese culture and strengthening solidarity and friendship. In that common achievement, it is impossible not to mention the image of Mr. Kieu Huu Bui, who has instilled in the community the habit of living green, clean, and responsible for the environment.

More than just cleaning the alleys, Mr. Bui’s work has deeply engraved the traditional cultural value of “old age, bright example” of the Vietnamese people. The tree-lined streets, colorful flower beds, and bright electric lights every night bear the mark of the people’s efforts. In each step of this transformation, Mr. Bui’s image is not only that of “the alley sweeper” but also a symbol of the spirit of living beautifully and living greenly.

“Mr. Bui’s contributions are recognized by the people. Every year, at the National Unity Day, Trung Nam Loc village commends and presents gifts to Mr. Bui, considering him an example for future generations to follow,” said Mr. Tung.

Appreciating Mr. Bui's contribution, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Phuc Tho Commune, Le Thi Kim Phuong, commented that from his simple habits, Mr. Kieu Huu Bui has inspired the community, fostered neighborly love, and contributed to building a civilized homeland. Mr. Bui is spreading the message: In the journey of building a green lifestyle, everyone can be a spreading nucleus!

Trung Nam Loc village of Phuc Tho commune today is bright and clean, with the presence of Mr. Kieu Huu Bui in every street, row of trees, flower bushes, corner of the cultural house yard... all thanks to the silent efforts of Mr. Kieu Huu Bui. Despite his "rare" age, he still shines in the community with his awareness of preserving the environment and building the village as a way to transmit energy to the younger generation so that they have more motivation to work and contribute to their family, hometown, and country...

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/thap-lua-phong-trao-song-xanh-715930.html