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Sailing for hope

It’s been a year and a month since Malaysia-born Felicia Thong first came on board but though the friendly volunteer — who just celebrated her 25^th birthday — says she misses home a lot, she’s also certain she could never have experienced all that she has so far if she’d stayed within her comfort zone.

It all started when an uncle left his paying job to serve on Logos’ sister ship, Doulos. “He came back a really changed man,” Felicia recalls. “Many years later, I asked him if he ever regretted going on board. He told me he would never have traded anything in the world for it.” Though familiar with the ships’ work, Felicia had put it firmly out of her mind as soon as she’d heard it was a non-salaried post. Working as a banker provided a good income for her — but she soon began to feel life was too empty. “Surely there had to be more to it than just materialistic living,” she reckoned. “I realised that life was not all about myself — but helping others too who are less fortunate than me.”

Over the last year that Felicia has been on board, they’ve visited at least 15 countries and more than 25 ports. ‘Challenge teams’ go on shore for a week at every port to engage with the local community through different activities. In Felicia’s case, she was “driven off to the middle of nowhere in Liberia, Africa” where she was asked to help out in building two classrooms. “As a girl, the labour was tough for me,” she says. “But it was so humbling at the same time. I saw how helping out those few days meant more children could be educated. It taught me to be truly grateful for what I have.”

While there isn’t really an age limit for those looking to sign on with the ship, anyone under 18 years can only join with their families. In fact, one of the lesser-known aspects of the ship is their international school for the children living on board. Swiss national Sandra Fahy —who organises the ship’s Help ministries — says she’s had it easier in a way as she and her husband signed up together. The couple gave up their jobs to try out a year on the Doulos ship. A year turned into two, during which they signed on with Logos Hope and now, four years later, they’re still sailing strong.

One could say impacting other’s lives is almost expected of the ship’s volunteers. A lot of times though, says Sandra, the tables are turned — and the people they meet end up leaving lasting impressions. The hospitality they found in Asia, for instance, totally blew them away. “We often invite our friends over but the people there invited us home — complete strangers — and made us feel like part of the family,” exclaims the 32-year-old. “We saw the same hospitality when we visited an orphanage in Africa as well. The people there had no idea what they’d eat the next day but they still served us everything they had. Can you imagine? They had one goat, which they were probably saving for a wedding or so, but when we came they slaughtered it for us. Things like that just touch your heart.”

For a lot of students fresh out of high school, gap years are the ultimate nirvana, and often involve elaborate plans to travel the world, see and do it all. Some, like American Jessie LaPlue, however opt for a slightly different route. According to the 23-year-old, “When you’re at home, you know so little about the rest of the world. I was never really caught up in international news or anything like that so I knew so little.” Living on the ship for a year changed all of that.

“We had to learn to be flexible and get along with people… It sounds so simplistic but we don’t really realise how different people are and even now, I find myself being surprised by these differences.” Take the hijab for example, she says. “Most Westerners don’t really have a context to understand that and interpret it as either fanaticism or repression. If they see a woman covered the only thing it communicates is how different that person is to them but they don’t really understand what it means. I’ve met a lot of women in the Middle East over the last year and now understand that for them it really is just an expression of modesty — a value that I hold as well,” she points out. “Of course, I express it differently but just being able to see the similarity behind those things means that now when I look at them, I don’t see it as a barrier between that person and me. I see it as something we have in common.”

Twenty-year-old Doron Lukat, too, wanted to “get out of Germany and see more” before studying again — only his desire was for an experience akin to the stories he kept hearing from family members who live in other countries as social workers. He eventually signed up with Logos Hope for a gap year he wasn’t expecting — but certainly wouldn’t forget. “Living together with people from so many cultures is not always easy but as a person, it shapes you so much. We all need to be teachable because everyday there are lessons to be learnt. Now after 18 months on board, I feel I have enough stories to entertain my grandchildren!” Doron quips.

Probably the biggest downside to the travel is the short docking time at each port, he feels. “It’s not my favourite part because you learn to say goodbye and that’s not the best thing to learn.” Still, it’s a great way to make friends — like the 13-year-old Ramil, who he met in Jamaica. They’d docked at the capital, Kingston, for four weeks — which, by the way, is “a lot of time to build a great relationship,” according to Doron.

“Ramil’s family was a big one with many girls. We got to talking and I found out he was dyslexic; he often got mocked at school, and sometimes home, for being slow,” he relates. “For many reasons I could understand his story. He’d never known his father and still dreams of visiting him in America some day. We built up an amazing friendship over the weeks and on the last day, I gave him a special gift someone had given me years earlier. I told him he was precious; that whether people around him recognise that or not, he shouldn’t let it discourage him.”

Saying goodbye later that night was the worst thing in the world, says Doron. “I will always remember his tears but I believe that a small life was touched by hope that day. That’s my desire — and the ship’s — to reach out to the people that are not everybody’s darlings. I’m still in touch with Ramil through Facebook. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll return to see him.”

For anyone who’s ever been a volunteer, the answer to why these guys do all that they do — for free — is a no-brainer. As they say, it’s easy enough to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.

(Logos Hope will remain docked at Abu Dhabi till February 20. Next stop: Doha.)

karen@khaleejtimes.com

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