Every day brings new experiences when I work on the dock. I am usually the only white man there, so every thief and drunk heads my way to try to get a few thousand CFAs out of me. Today Michael came to see me again - he is one of the Nigerian sailors living on an abandoned old freighter moored next to our ship, and has been out of work for months. Apparently he can't afford to pay for transport back into Nigeria, or buy food or clothes, but today he was drunk and smelt really bad (because he can't afford soap). I gave him some soap, which he was delighted with. In fact he was so delighted that he offered to go and get a woman for me - and not just any woman - a beautiful woman! It's really sad that after all this time he still doesn't realise that we Christians on the Africa Mercy are not the same as the average sailor who comes into Cotonou and wants a beautiful woman. So I have more work to do. Olly
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