People who 'forget' Tet in Vinh city

WhenVinh CityPreparing to enter the new year, among the bustling crowd walking on the streets, few people know that at this time the urban environmental workers have just started their work. They work all night until almost dawn to finish their work. And of course, welcoming the new year is an extremely luxurious moment for them.

For 19 years now, Ms. Lan has never known the feeling of celebrating New Year's Eve with her relatives and family. Photo: Tien Dong

I met Ms. Hoang Thi Lan, residing in Hung Linh commune (Hung Nguyen) when she was pushing a heavy garbage cart on Dang Thai Than street. Ms. Lan has been an environmental worker for 19 years, and every year, she has never known what it is like to celebrate New Year's Eve with her relatives and family. After a while, it became a habit, when the momentNew Year EveWhen everyone and every family gathered, she walked alone, with a cart and a bamboo broom, through the old year.

Collecting trash and bringing it to the collection point. Photo: Tien Dong

Ms. Lan is in charge of a rather difficult route in Vinh City, which is the area from Phan Dinh Phung Street to Vinh Market, Dau Moi Market, then turns to Dang Thai Than Street. Although the route is short, there is a lot of trash in this area.

During the last days of the year, the amount of waste discharged increases 3-4 times compared to normal days. Photo: Tien Dong

Ms. Lan said that every year, at the New Year's Eve, the women in the group stop the car, watch the fireworks, and then go back to work. By the time they load all the trash onto the specialized truck and drive more than 15 km home alone, it is almost dawn. After bathing and washing, they rest to regain their strength to work in the evening. And that is the end of Tet.

Normally, during Tet, the amount of garbage is 3-4 times more than usual, which makes the work of urban environmental workers even more difficult. Ms. Bui Thi Hao, from Thanh Chuong, a worker in charge of collecting garbage on Nguyen Phong Sac Street, has to use a cart attached to the back of her motorbike to carry more garbage.

There is so much trash that instead of using carts like before, many female workers have to use carts to carry more trash. Photo: Tien Dong

Ms. Hao said that in addition to the fact that there is usually more garbage during Tet, because this road no longer has a temporary garbage collection point, the women have to use a cart to transport the garbage to the collection area located near the Lam River road, about 5 km away, and then wait for a specialized vehicle to come and pick it up.

"As New Year's Eve approaches, what do you wish for the most?" I asked. Ms. Hao smiled and said that wishing for people to throw less trash is too far-fetched, so she just wishes for good health to continue working. I understand that this is the simplest wish of urban environmental workers, because with this job, if you don't have good health, it will be very difficult to handle.

Although the New Year is near, many people still take the opportunity to sell goods, hoping that many people going out to celebrate the Spring Festival will stop by to buy goods. Photo: Tien Dong

As Vinh city prepares to enter the New Year's Eve, the flow of people going out to the streets to enjoy the Spring Festival is increasing, but there are still many people taking advantage of the opportunity to sell goods. Ms. Huyen (from Nam Dinh) has been selling goods on the street in Vinh city for nearly 10 years now. Every year, before Tet, Ms. Huyen takes the opportunity to return to her hometown to visit her family and then return to Vinh.

This year, the Spring Flower Street on Ho Tung Mau Street opened and attracted a large number of visitors, so street vendors also opened their shops later. Photo: Tien Dong

This year, the Spring Flower Street on Ho Tung Mau Street has been beautifully decorated, many people come to visit and take pictures, so the goods are also sold. Ms. Huyen said that she will return when there are no more customers, take a break and then bring the goods out to sell on the morning of the first day of the New Year, hoping that with more people coming out, the goods will sell better.

Late at night, the moment between the old year and the new year is only a matter of minutes, under the bright decorative lights shining down on the streets. Among the stream of people going out for Spring are the images of urban environmental workers and street vendors, they are still busy going back and forth on the road to make a living. Perhaps they are the people who celebrate Tet the latest in Vinh city...