Meet Ocean Ambassador Traliyah Carey!

Meet Traliyah Carey!

Last month, I had the opportunity to sit down with Traliyah Carey from Bahamas Plastic Movement. We talked about her involvement in Bahamas Plastic Movement and around her community. You can find the transcript from the interview below. ~ Thank you Traliyah. You moved me with some great responses. You are passionate about what you are doing and are an inspiration for many other youth on Eleuthera and around the world. I am blessed to have had the chance to meet you.

Molly: Good afternoon Traliyah, first thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Can you tell what school you go to and how old you are?

Traliyah: I am from Preston H. Albury and I am sixteen years old.

Molly: And when do you first get started in Bahamas Plastic Movement?

Traliyah: I started Bahamas Plastic movement five years ago. I went to the second plastic camp and since then I’ve moved from a camper to a counselor. Now, I help Ms. Kristal a lot.

Molly: Very cool! Are you an Ocean Ambassador as well?

Traliyah: Yes.

Molly: Tell me about what you do as an Ocean Ambassador?

Traliyah: As an Ocean Ambassador, I help Ms. Kristal with many things especially with spreading the word about plastic pollution. I help her with camp. I help her plan stuff, like when we did the ban and creating poems.

Molly: What did you and your group do to prepare for the plastic ban? What did that look like?

Traliyah: In preparation for the ban, we had a workshop where we discussed what we were gonna say and how we were going to say it in the presentation. We worked on building our character and personalities when we talked to the Minister. We did a lot of other stuff too.

Molly: You all put a lot of great work into this. What was it like finally talking with the Minister of Environment and Housing?

Traliyah: It was frightening! Only because it was our first time speaking to anyone in Parliament. But, after getting to know him and after he told us to stop being so scared, we was cool.

Molly: But you did it! How do you think it went?

Traliyah: I think it went great because afterwords, he actually started to do more to move towards the bans. He said he wanted to do the ban, but before we had met with him he didn’t really go forward with it. But now, he actually is going to meetings and different islands discussing it. So I think that we impacted him a bit.

Molly: Do you plan to continue to help and talk to the Minister as a group?

Traliyah: I think we are, because we are all posting on our social media about it. We continue to get updates about it.

Molly: Why is it important to include youth in these issues and conversations? Not just having Parliament or adults, but having youth voices as well.

Traliyah: I think when people hear the youth speak, they listen. So now, they are actually gravitating towards the problem. They actually understand that if little children understand it is a problem, then it really is an issue.

Molly: Do you think it is important to make that connection between youth and adults so that we can work together?

Traliyah: Yes

Molly: What is your favorite part about being an Ocean Ambassador?

Traliyah: My favorite part about being an Ambassador is seeing the looks on the children’s faces when we teach them about plastic. And how after camp they come to me saying “I haven’t used straws or plastic bags!” and I was like “Oh I’m so proud!”. Thats the best part.

Molly: Have you gotten any friends to become ambassadors?

Traliyah: I have! Even the little kids in primary school say “I want to be an Ocean Ambassador. I want to help with camp!”. It’s amazing.

Molly: What does Kristal mean to you?

Traliyah: Kristal is like… a sister to me. We have grown up very close. Anything I do or anything I ask… I can just be personal with her. I can be myself with her.

Molly: And lastly… what is your favorite part of your country?

Traliyah: My favorite part of my country is how we combine and we come together as a country. We don’t let anything else stop us. And how, when there is a problem we try to work through it.

Molly: Thank you Traliyah, good luck!