Fathom Day 5

Thursday April 21^st

Today we visited the Recycled Paper and Crafts Entrepreneurship cooperative which is run by a group of local women. It was an interesting and meaning-full venture. The cooperative recycles paper and creates local crafts for sale. The women were joyful and excited and greeted us with enthusiasm. Although they spoke little to no English they taught us the various stages to their processes and we performed each function. They sang, danced and laughed and we all gained respect and appreciation for their efforts and their lives. The visit lasted about 4 hours and was very worthwhile. The business is located in a very poor area, once again reminding everyone how much volunteer effort and support is needed in this area.

Most of the passengers engaged in morning Impact Activities in the community and then returned to the ship early afternoon for lunch and some relaxation on the ship or at the port pool facilities. The ship offered some afternoon Personal Enrichment sessions such as “Story Circle” created by Stanford Storytelling Lab, “Raising the Next Generation of Change-makers”, from Ashoka’s Parenting Change-makers group and “Curiosity Advantage” created by Curiosity Atlas; these were generally interesting and informative sessions. There were also fitness, relaxation and meditation classes offered most days. The ship offered little in the way of general entertainment although there was occasionally live music on deck or in one of the few bars; seldom more than one choice at a time, unlike traditional cruise entertainment.