Kind schoolboy selflessly clears blocked drain during rainstorm in Vietnam
This is the heartwarming moment a caring schoolboy selflessly unblocked a drain to stop it flooding the road during a rainstorm.
The drenched youngster was pushing his bike without even a coat when he stopped at the drain which was overflowing with muddy brown water in Dong Nai, Vietnam, on June 16.
When the homeowner who lives in front of the drain returned home, she was baffled to see that the water was draining properly without the usual debris in the grates.
Ta Hong, 34, and her husband checked their CCTV and were touched when they saw the young boy scooping away the filth with his bare hands.
Having performed the good deed he was seen calmly walking away, without need of any recognition.
The woman was so overwhelmed by the random act of kindness that she posted the footage online to find the boy and give him a small reward.
He was identified as Pham Trong Dat, 12, from a nearby school.
He said that he had noticed the drains overflowing after being blocked with debris and just did it to be helpful.
''That afternoon I cleared about 10 manholes that were full of garbage, I just clean them by hand,'' he said.
''I've done it in the past whenever there was a big rain storm.'' The incident was widely reported in local media and officials visited Pham Trong Dat at the Long An Secondary School.
Pham Trong Dat's uniform and backpack matched those in the video and he was praised by teachers for his civic spirit.
His teacher, Phan Thi Ngoc Mai , Principal of Long An Secondary School, said: ''Pham Trong Dat is a careful and meticulous boy who often helps people.
He never asks for anything in return.
''His hobby is collecting broken mechanical components and building new things them.'' It later emerged that Pham Trong Dat's parents are divorced and he lives with his 15-year-old sister and and his grandparents.
His grandfather suffered a stroke and no longer works and teh family struggly by in their rundown brick hut with a bamboo roof.
The grandmother, Huynh Thi Thu, 68, said: ''My grandson is very happy to see that he has been praised by many people.
It has made him feel very proud that he is viewed kindly in their eyes.''