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Abu Dhabi: A female Emirati student taking part in a campaign about the dangers of plastic bags said several children cried when she showed them how these bags kill camels.
"The children love camels very much," said Mariam, a second semester diploma student at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) Madinat Zayed campus.
"They soon stopped dumping plastic wrappers and bags in the desert. They even collected discarded plastic and brought it back home," she said.
The children were our "soldiers" in the campaign, added Maitha Musallam, a student. "I saw children talking about the issue to their family members and friends," she said.
"It was quite surprising that most of the Emirati and expatriate pupils (grade seven to nine) were unaware of the evils of plastic bags," said Qareeba Al Mazroui, an IT and business student.
"One Emirati child prompted his father to remove plastic ropes from the fence of their camel farm," said Qareeba.
Altogether 22 children wrote short stories about the dangers of plastic.
Inspired: Role model
Many of the students taking part in the campaign were excited to meet the man who indirectly inspired them to act on the plastic bags issue.
Dr. Ulrich Wernery, Scientific Director at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, told Gulf News earlier this year that hundreds of camels were being killed every year by plastic left behind in the desert.
He gave them a presentation last Sunday on "deadly plastic". The youngsters were audibly shocked when Wernery showed pictures of camel carcasses in the desert.
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