Last day for Day Workers

Today is the last day for Day Workers on the ship - these are Liberians we hire for $5/day to work as translaters, cooks, cleaners, painters, electricians, engineers, mechanics, watch-keepers, drivers, and nursing assistants. Some of these dear folk have been with us on-and-off since early 2005, and will be returning to work with us in February. They are happy to have jobs to return to, but for the next 2 months they will join Liberia's other 85% unemployed, and try to make their wages last out until their next pay-packet by typically living off less than $1/day. Yet in the midst of their terrible poverty, many of them have presented crew members with traditional Liberian clothes or carvings, as a way of saying thank-you for the last ten months of employment. We look forward to seeing them and working with them again in February. Photo of me and some of the Deck Department's Day Workers. Olly