Adam and Rodrigo are among the about 350 volunteers of M/V Doulos, which has dropped anchor for a book exhibition at the Bredco Port in Bacolod City from Dec. 20 until today. The ship, which is actually the world's oldest ocean-going passenger ship having been built in 1914, only two years after the fabled Titanic, has crew members coming from around 50 countries, said its media relations officer, Reka Borsiczky, who was a public relations specialist in her home country, Hungary, before working for two years now with the floating library.

M/S Doulos, which is entering its 30th year as an international book exposition, has saied to 26 countries in the past two years alone, Borsiczky said. Its mini-United Nations crew composition makes daily life in the ship, including Christmas and New Year celebrations, a pleasant smorgasborg of ways of life across the globe. "We come from different backgrounds and cultures," she said, "but we focus on something in common that's why we work and enjoy living here together." That Tuesday afternoon, Reka gathered at random a small group of volunteers to share with StarLife how they spend their Christmas holiday in the ship, which was used to transport pilgrims to Rome and migrants to Australia and later served as a luxury cruise liner in the Mediterranean Sea before it became the Doulos floating library (please see accompanying item on how Christmas was celebrated by the volunteers from different continents).

"Would you like to see our cabin?" asked Adam when the StarLife chat was almost completed in the cozy and cool interview room - a welcome relief from the tropical temperature at the top deck where crowds were checking out the more than 6,000 titles for adults and children- from sports to science, history to humanities, novels to novelty items and marine biology to music, among others.

And soon he was talking on the phone to his roommate: "Rodrigo, get our room ready, we have some visitors." Shortly, Reka guided us the lower portion of the seven-deck ship for a view of the Adam's Christmas cabin. Rodrigo's makeover was quick and the mood was unmistakably 'Christmassy' when opened the room, which was sparkling with Christmas lights.

The room has a Christmas tree set against tinsels and a wallpaper with holiday icon prints. A sax-playing Santa Claus is mounted on a sleigh made of Christmas paper. Cotton balls serve as snowballs. Gifts are wrapped in colorful paper. Bed sheets and pillows were in red and green. Multi-colored candies and candy canes in red, white and green were handed to the visitors. Even the pipes are painted in red and white, like giant candy canes, and the mirror looking tinted with snow, adding a Yuletide touch even to minor fixtures in the room. And to give the Christmas picture in the cabin a more universal picture, instead of a purely Western cold-and-wintry look, there was the belen scene, the idea seemingly Rodrigo's in keeping with the way Christmas decorations are made in Spanish-speaking countries, including the Philippines.

I may be away from Canada, Adam said, but at Christmas, I'm still at home, he said, pointing at the symbols of Christmas in his room, plus the air-conditioning, apparently referring to the cold atmosphere with Rodrigo adding: "It's an interesting Christmas for everyone in the ship. Certamiente."

Doulos: A Special Christmas Gift

I was thrilled when I learned that we were going on a tour of an international ship as part of our Christmas party the following day. We were going to visit M/V Doulos which is docked in Bacolod City from Dec. 20 to 31. This is going to be a different kind of Christmas party, I told myself.

Based on the bits of information I got about the ship, I imagined it would be enormous - at least five stories tall - loaded with tons and tons of books. I was told that it is famous for its book fair, its international crew and the programs it holds as it goes around the world.

It was a sunny Friday morning when we visited the ship. I was a bit dismayed when I first saw it - the ship is not as big as I had imagined it to be. There it was, an average-sized ship, floating gracefully in the BREDCO port. Excited, we ascended the stairs and started walking around the ship. Pausing to read the posters on her walls, it dawned on me that she was no ordinary missionary ship.

I learned that it is the world's oldest ocean-going passenger ship. It is still active at 92 years old, just two years younger than the ill-fated Titanic. Built in 1914, it was originally a freighter named MS Medina. In 1950, it was renamed Roma, converted into a passenger ship and used to transport Catholic pilgrims to Rome for the celebration of the Holy Year. From 1952 to 1976, it was known as Franca C, a luxury liner in the Mediterranean Sea. Since 1977, it she became the M/V Doulos, which is the Greek word for slave, it has sailed to over 500 ports in more than 100 countries, bringing knowledge, help and hope.

M/V Doulous is staffed by 350 volunteers from 50 different countries. They serve without pay for two years or less. Each one has a job on the ship, like working in the kitchen, engine room, book shop or clinic. The volunteers also hold cultural programs like International Night and Christmas Around the World as well as seminars and conferences in various ports..

I was still pondering on the interesting information I learned about the ship when we reached the bookshop where we were welcomed by books of all sizes and colors neatly arranged in shelves. There were sections for children's literature, novels, sports, cooking, Christian literature, audio cassette tapes, music CDs and souvenirs. I saw people eagerly searching for books to read during the holidays or perhaps give as Christmas gifts to their loved ones.

M/V Doulos which is known as the world's largest floating bookfair sells 6,000 different titles at affordable prices. Most of these cannot be found in local bookstores. Some are so cheap that one can buy three books and a Doulos souvenir bag for only P300. Five cassette tapes can be bought for P50, three music CDs for P50.

After browsing through so many books, we were so tired from standing and walking around the bookshop that we just sat down in a corner and watched smiling Doulos crew members, all of them wearing maroon shirts, walk by.

I really admired these volunteers. They have given up their normal lives, gone out of their comfort zones, for the sake of missions. They are serving God and other people without expecting anything in return.

After lunch in a restaurant at the reclamation area, we decided to go back to the ship so we can have a better look at the ship. We were given a tour of the ship by Gerdia (pronounced Huh-diya), a crew member from South Africa. She first showed us the section where married couples and their children live. The narrow corridor in front of the cabins was littered with toys. She informed us that there are a total of 26 children on board.

Are they living normal lives? Are the children well taken care of? Or are they neglected because their parents are busy doing their jobs on the ship? In answer to the questions I was asking myself, she told us that the children were home-schooled. They also have on the ship a crew member who teaches and takes care of the children while their parents are working. "They're never bored because we have a learning center especially for them," Gerdia said.

Next, she took us to the social hall where they hold conferences, meetings, worship services and other functions. On our way out, she narrated to us the history of M/V Doulos using the photographs hanging on the walls. I learned that the bookshop is located on what used to be a swimming pool. So many changes had to be made to transform a luxury liner into this ship with a mission.

As we looked at the photographs, I was really amazed not only by the ship but also by its crew. There was a picture of a smiling black boy planting a root crop beside a uniformed Doulos crew member. These people did not serve on board the ship but also on shore.. Whenever they are in port, they build homes in villages and render other services.

We visited the dining hall where, I learned, families eat together on the left side, while the singles eat on the right side. "We have to separate them so that family members could bond with one another," Gerdia explained.

She guided us to the bakery adjoining the kitchen where Noelle, a 19-year old American told me that they need to bake 100 loaves of bread and a lot of cookies and cakes everyday for 350 people. "I've only been on board three months but I'm already used to waking up at 2:30 a.m. to bake," she said.

"There are no regrets and sacrifices for us serving in the Doulos," Gerdia said. "We enjoy serving God and the people even if we do not receive wages. We are all volunteers here, even the captain," Gerdia added as we returned our visitors identification cards at the reception area.

We got so tired that day but I really enjoyed visiting the ship and meeting its crew. And I also love its books. It may not have been as big as I had expected but eventually I found out its size is immeasurable, considering its mission of delivering hope, help and knowledge to a world and people who are needy, thirsty, ignorant and desolate.

I will remember this Christmas for a long time because it is the Christmas M/V Doulos, by visiting Bacolod, gave me and many others, a special Christmas gift.

The writer, who graduated high school salutatorian from Maranatha Christian College, is a sophomore Education student at West Negros College

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