Subjected to becoming a litterbug

There has been a subject I’ve wanted to write about for a while because it amazes me.

Garbage.  

I feel so fortunate to live in the U.S. where there is garbage companies to come pick up our trash for us. In Haiti, there are no such companies, and people just throw their unwanted and finished objects on the ground. Everyone is a litterbug, including myself. I don’t like it. We have fines in the U.S. for littering, and I even get bent out of shape when smokers toss their cigarettes out the window. That is not how it works here. Families throw trash in their yards, and eventually burn it. When you are out in the street, you just toss it on the ground. Occasionally I walk by a small fire, which I assume to be a pile of litter.

It is terrible for the environment, but what else can they do? They don’t have the same luxury, (which I can now say is a luxury), that we do. I don’t drink the water here so Fritz buys me bottled water, and I can’t find it in me to throw the empty ones outside. There is a stack of empty water bottles in the corner of my room.

PAP is worse. There are piles upon piles of trash near the water under the bridge, and along the street curbs. Pigs, dogs, goats, cats, chickens and bugs are rummaging through these piles to find their next meal. It is certainly one of the reasons PAP reeks of filth. I bet you are thinking you could never live this way, but there is no choice. Marquise did tell me there is a new garbage company. PAP is stressing the importance of keeping a clean environment. I don’t know the details but it is a start.

I knew once I arrived to Haiti, I would be thankful for what I have, I just didn’t know what exactly, and this is definitely on my list.