Peace Boat Intro

I hope all is well. The Peace Boat is making its way to Cochin, India. We are scheduled to arrive in four days.

The ocean is calm and sparkling. We have had sunshine every day and clear star-viewing skies at night.

For those of you who may have been checking the Peace Boat website, I realize only a few of my articles have been posted and I apologize for the delay. Because of the NGO-tic nature of the job and trip, my articles must go through three others (in two continents  across the expansive ocean) before they are posted, and somewhere along the way they seem to end up on the shelf.

To keep things in real-time, I will be posting my articles here for those of you who may be interested, and for those of us whose friends and families are checking the website daily in frustration. For those family and friends whom I have not yet met, welcome. It is truly a pleasure to be working with such a great group – I have seen nothing but compassion, creativity, friendship, happiness and inspiration amongst the GET teachers and CCs (combined as KSB – Kokusaibu, or International Division).

Because the articles themselves are somewhat focused on chronicling the Peace Boat’s activities as an organization, I have not had much time to write about the daily happenings onboard (though you may start to get a sense of the Peace Boat soul through the pieces. Please understand that the pieces here will have a subjective slant as I will be processing what I see through my own eyes. This is an essential aspect of peace journalism. I hope you will enjoy what you read and extract the essence of our collective experience from it.

I have been charmed by the vibrant energy of this floating village. It is an entirely in-the-moment operation, with fune magic (boat magic) that depends on the cohesion of the plentitude of individualistic characters and a festive activism that has you going until 2am without even flinching. Surrounded by people at every moment, we all meet at least one new inspiring person daily.

Here is an example of what a typical day’s schedule is like for me (onboard peace journalist):

8am: breakfast at the Yacht Club, overlooking the long trace of churning water the ship has left in its path. Fresh air and muesli.

9am: Peace Boat Staff meeting. I have been included in the Staff group, so I have an inside look at how the organization is run, all the problems we face, and what events are being planned weekly.

10am~12pm: Go to exciting and interesting lectures by incredible peacebuilders from various regions. Today we had lectures from Rudasingwa and Mami Gatera, activists who have been working to provide affordable prosthetic limbs to victims of the genocide in Rwanda, and Ramu Ramdas (a retired Indian admiral turned activist) and Lalita Ramdas (his wife, who is head of Green Peace in India).

1:30pm~2pm: Lunch in the Topaz where shorts and flip flops are against the rules and where sometimes you are waited on by a professional ballerina from the Ukraine, or a composer from Bulgaria. Here there are mostly tables that seat 8 people; introductions are encouraged and new friendships sprout.

2:30~4:30pm: Fruit Party on the back deck. This afternoon participants and staff were treated to fresh tropical fruits including mangosteen, litchi, mango, durian, guava, pineapple, and dragon fruit that the ship picked up in Singapore. Sunworshiping breaks from work like this are indispensable for staff who often work straight through the day and forget that they are in the middle of the ocean with plenty of the cleanest air one could hope for.

5:30pm~7pm: Interviews or take part in jishuukikaku (self-organized events) including self-defense courses, ballroom dancing, and shogi.

7:30pm: Dinner

8pm: More lectures or other events, last night we had a concert by Kotobuki (an Okinawa/Hiroshima duo). Many times staff help out by overseeing the events or helping to put it up/take it down while enjoying the great music(!!)

10pm: Access to the staff computer with internet to send off some of my articles to Peace Boat (or, in this case to “between the air and the stillness”).

11pm: Relax with a drink on deck at Sunshine Bar. Get together with others to discuss the day, global issues, the port we just visited, the Peace Boat organization, etc. This is when time becomes irrelevant.

1am: Sometimes work, sometimes shooting star hunting, sometimes a good night’s rest.

Thanks for reading. I will try to post as often as possible.

Much love.

Kya

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It's all good. Stay the course.