Returning to Hanoi three years ago, US war veteran Paul Harding opened free English classes in Hanoi and also helped to clean the city’s walls.

To date, the 69-year old veteran has opened six English classes in Hanoi’s Cau Giay District, attracting the participation of hundreds of people aged between five and 70.

He said that he is still obsessed with the war in Vietnam even today and decided to do something good for the Vietnamese people.  

Paul said that “Local people strongly support what my group does. Many of them voluntarily join our work, talk with us and provide water. Through the work, I have more new friends.”

Another American man living in Hanoi named Scott Matt has also been repainting an alleyway in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and hopes he can paint all alleyways in the city.

His action has been praised by many people on the social media. Many local residents love his work and some gave him funds to buy paint. Some people also paint with him.

He recently called on his students and local people to remove advertisements pasted on walls and poles. His campaign has received the active participation from many people. To date, the group has helped clean many walls in many streets like Tran Huy Hung, Nguyen Ngoc Vu and Nguyen Thi Dinh.     After removing illegal advertisements and with local people’s agreement, his team will re-paint the walls.   Nguyen Duc Men in Nguyen Ngoc Vu Street highly appreciated the American veteran’s work, saying it would help to raise the public awareness of the environment protection. Men also called on many local people to join the team’s work.

dtinews