Hello, I haven't been here for a few days. It's because we've been quite busy at the Seafarer help office. I couldn't think about anything apart from my working escapade,- tiping, sending, putting list of the tatrgeted countries together. It sounds slightly military perhaps, but we "target" countries only in case of the promotion compaine, if we plan to attack them with the overwhelming stream of green-blue posters, Seafarer help cards and offers of assistance.

Now the first wave of such a compaine has reached cyber shores of ex-soviet states. Let's see what kind of responce we get. For the time being however, we will have to sit and wait keeping ourselves occupied with the more immediate events. For example with the desperate for our help seafarer from South Asia, who is not only very stressed, but also speaks limited English. He is even slightly angry with me that I don't speak Tagalog. But it so happens that in my part of the world this language is not one of the most commonly spoken.

So, when we finally reach a mutual understanding and get to the bottom of his problem with the bold help of my Chinese colleague, it feels like a victory. Well, perhaps a small one, but still a victory, that hopefully will lead to a bigger ones in the future. Future when we will recieve a joyful e-mail or a phone call from our Filipino sailor saying that everything is now all right. To bring this day closer, we all will need to apply boldness, creativity, competence,integrity and first of all compassion. If we manage to find enough of this wonderful human fuel within ourselves every day, then working for charity will be easy.

Hello, I haven't been here for a few days. It's because we've been quite busy at the Seafarer help office. I couldn't think about anything apart from my working escapade,- tiping, sending, putting list of the tatrgeted countries together. It sounds slightly military perhaps, but we "target" countries only in case of the promotion compaine, if we plan to attack them with the overwhelming stream of green-blue posters, Seafarer help cards and offers of assistance.

Now the first wave of such a compaine has reached cyber shores of ex-soviet states. Let's see what kind of responce we get. For the time being however, we will have to sit and wait keeping ourselves occupied with the more immediate events. For example with the desperate for our help seafarer from South Asia, who is not only very stressed, but also speaks limited English. He is even slightly angry with me that I don't speak Tagalog. But it so happens that in my part of the world this language is not one of the most commonly spoken.

So, when we finally reach a mutual understanding and get to the bottom of his problem with the bold help of my Chinese colleague, it feels like a victory. Well, perhaps a small one, but still a victory, that hopefully will lead to a bigger ones in the future. Future when we will recieve a joyful e-mail or a phone call from our Filipino sailor saying that everything is now all right. To bring this day closer, we all will need to apply boldness, creativity, competence,integrity and first of all compassion. If we manage to find enough of this wonderful human fuel within ourselves every day, then working for charity will be easy.

This is a one of the easiest days at Seafarer Help,-no calls, no particularly complicated followups. Only big grey sky that is looking into a mirror of our office window and a murmuring of silver radio transmitter are left to fill the silence. There is also a little task for me,-I was asked to make a list of Russian speaking countries where we should start our upcoming e-mailing compain. Hopefully it will help us to make Seafarer Help more popular in this part of the world.

To start with my task seemed very strightforward and simple. But once I made a list of all the ex-soviet republicks and started searching through the relevant sites for some contacts there, the countries turned out to be a real web ghosts. Only biggest of them like Ukraine and Russia seemed to be fully present and in touch with the rest of the modern world. Smaller once had just a few contacts with the phone numbers and e-mails that didn't work, or were not mentioned at all.

Perheps these places are still recovering from the political and social disasters that shook them twenty years ago. That means that sea workers there most of the time have very limited, or no access to any professional advise or assistance. If fact, I don't need to guess, I know it for sure. I am Georgian. It's just that it is not always easy to face such a cruel reality. I remember quite a few months ago trying to get through to the only seafarer centre in Georgia. The phone kept calling, and calling, and calling...No one was there to pick up, my e-mail bounced back.

Unfortunately that isn't because seafarers are not in need of help there, or have nothing to be discontent with. Quite the opposite,-because their problems are too huge and money is too tight. It would seem like a real luxury there to build a good seafarer centre. The population is still too busy with pretty basic survival. Sometimes due to neccesity, but more often because people forgot about any other way of existance. However, Black Sea is still welcoming and beautiful and friendly dolphins are still greating approaching ships by performing their acrobatic tricks for amazed foreign visitors. But ugly reality desturbs the eturnal beauty of nature. Once foreign crew steps off the ship, unattractive daily routin creeps in.

I suddenly remembered far too well how city of my childhood got filled with bodies of dead people and trees. How dangerous it became to leave home after dark and how sound of a gunshot turned into something terribly familiar, even normal...Well, I better get on with my little list because who knows, maybe it will make a difference to the sea workers of those troubled places. There certanly everyone needs help, and paople who try to connect their countries with the rest of the world, perheps even more.

Hello again. Today was a really difficult day, although normally Sundays suppose to be relatively uncomplicated at our office. Well, not this time...I had an alarming call from a seafarer in South America. Him and his crew are desperate to go home, but that's not what their company has in store for them. The living and working conditions on board of the vessel becoming unbearable and people just don't feel like putting up with it any longer.

Sunday is a truly unfortunate day for urgent cases!Offices are shut and phones are silent. 24 hours under ordinary cercumstances are not a lot of time, but in emergency they equal eturnity. Trying to seek help from somebody on the opposite end of the world becomes difficult and you suddenly realise that our world is still big enough as soon as mobiles and regular post stop working. Proportionally I am starting to feel really small sitting in my comfprtable blue chair here in aloof and fashionable London. Nothing much I can do right now!I feel slightly guilty for seing perfect geometry of well-constructed modern buildings from the office window and being able to reach easily for my warm cup of coffee. Perhaps it is totally irrational, but I wish I could be there, with our troubled callers to truly share their their fate with them, talk to them face to face.But I can't...

Me and my colleague are taking turns in talking to reccorded messages in Portuguise and Spanish. But what we really need is a live human voice with the kind heart and eagerness to help attached to it. Hopefully tomorrow it will happen, since it will be a working day. And also hopefully they will have enough time to stop the ship with it's unhappy crew from sailing towards the anonymous port somewhere across Atlantic. Anonymous because the captain doesn't want to disclose this information to his crew,-another way to control people...

Let's believe that tomorrow will be better. It was a difficult Sunday.

Hello my online travellers!I am back.Well, today's discussion at our office was quite artistic by it's nature,-we had to produce the final version of a leaflet for an upcoming conference. It is really great that God granted us all with such a different personalities, otherwise one could never discover the truth. They say that it becomes apparent during a good healthy debate...Does it?I am not sure, but our local truth will take time to reveal itself to us.

Symbol is a strange thing, it has it's own, very unique language that isn't always the easiest one to master. Obviously here we are dealing with maritime life, joy and sorrow triggered by it. So, I personally would like to see more beautiful ships, seashells and emerald waves floating through our site and marketing materials. That however would be perhaps too unpractical and sometimes confusing. Especially if all these imagery is born in the ocean of my imagination,-it is easy to drown there.

However today during our discussion we avoided usage of life saving boats and desided to go for something less adventurouse but clear and to the point.They all should know that if they happen to work at sea and facing a problem, they can call us. The leaflet became more personal, with the photos of real people working at our office, with descriptions of recent cases that caused us true worry, joy, concern and once again proved that all humans no matter where they are want to be understood, loved and supported.

I hope very much that people on the conference will pick up lot's of our pale blue leaflets and as a resoult will call Seafarerhelp. I also look forward to getting my hands on transforming our marketing literature!One day leaflets will have wavy adges and differently colored pages, the text itself will look more unusual,-latters will take on shapes of rare and striking fonts, they will gain an off-pink glow of mother of purl, and writing will be as dynamic as fiery movements of dancers on Minoyan frescos. Untill then I have to learn a bit more about clarity, patience and strightforward communication. These things are so important in our work!

Hello. My name is Dimitri Devdariani, I am a seafarerhelp officer from Georgia. A post-soviet Georgia that is not a particularly wellknown country. But yet, a very beautiful one. I am glad to be able to use my languages and urge to help people. Also to use my love for writing and nature. It is so wonderful to be connected to this amazing blue mystery,-SEA!Even if it's a distant connection from my office desk, through the telephone lines and miles of waitless air filled with human voices...Voices that ask for immediate help and understanding, voices of people unated and touched by the sea. Some of their stories are mesmorising, some heartbreaking, but all worth listening to. So, happy reading, listening, sailing. I hope to meet you in this hospitable cyber ocean!