Buried under #PlanetorPlastic

**Buried under**

I remembered it as if it was yesterday, being driven to school in that burgundy and white top Volkswagen, inhaling the fresh Jasmines scented air while passing by this opened beach area early in the morning. The clean sand and the crystal clear blue color of the ocean was truly captivating but the most satisfying part of the day was seeing the fishermen make their nets by the green pastures.

So, there I was standing in line at the Trudeau Elliot airport ticket in hand, destination Carrefour a town in the outskirts of Port-Au-Prince, after so many years contemplating going back there. Ecstatic and excited, I tripped over a four-wheel silver luggage,

"OH my God, are you OK?" she asks trying to help me up.

"Yes, guess I'm too excited, just need to calm down a bit. Here you go, sorry about that"

"Is this your first time going to Haiti?" she asks.

"No, I was born there, but I left a long time ago and haven't been back since."

"Really, I guess we're in the same boat then. It's my first trip since I left there and I don't know what to expect!" She says while checking and tagging her luggage.

Though short and vague, that mini conversation was just enough to calm us both. I boarded the plane, and after four hours of flight, I'd finally reached Toussaint Louverture Airport and on my way to Carrefour to see that beautiful place again. But I was shocked and appalled by what I saw when I got there, a mountain of filth. There was no clean sand; no flea market, I could barely see the ocean and instead of the Jasmine sweet smell, the place now had an awful stench because it'd been turned into a dump sight over the years. 

The fishermen stopped coming because the marine life was completely dead, I felt sick and disgusted seeing all these children playing and searching through that garbage for reusable plastic bottles and bags instead of swimming in crystal clear beach. They were completely unaware of the treasure buried beneath that mountain of filth. 

Sadly, this seems to be a repeated scene all over the world, plastic debris swimming and landing ashore, marine wildlife is down to less than 1/3 of what it used to be in certain places due to environmental changes. Unless we take drastic measures now to put an end in the forever growing problem of plastic bottles and bags polluting our beaches and shores we might soon be facing a plastic-apocalypse. 

I know it's going to take years to raise awareness and clean up that place back to its former state, but I'm confident that we can achieve it, you know what they say 'where there's a will, there's a way.' Then maybe one day these children will come to know and see this place just as I used to. Until then, I'll keep on imagining myself sitting in the back of that old burgundy Volkswagen.

Inspired by the National Geographic plastic pollution global issue #PlanetorPlastic