Logos Hope sailed into the Port-of-Spain harbour with its trademark floating bookshop. Key personnel on board, including Captain Dirk Colenbrander and managing director Gian Walser were there, on September 17. Walser said the new state-of-the-art ship cost $28 million euros (TT$210 million). Colenbrander said, "It boasts a new air conditioned bookshop. It is laid out like a library. We have about 6000 authors and lots of books. More books are expected in containers."
Colenbrander and Walser greeted Alicia Hospedales, Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Development and Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Yvonne Chrysostum. In his address, Colenbrander said the ship was focused on promoting education, literary, humanitarianism and the message of Christ to the nations. Its theme was bringing knowledge, help and hope. Prior to Colenbrander's speech, a video presentation showed snapshots of the work of the crew, which was assisted by volunteers.
He said: "We have a lot of Christian books that you would find in a one stop shop. You can find Christian DVDs and CDs, too. It is about promoting reading and the message of Christ to the nations," he said. Hospedales reminded the gathering Government was supportive of initiatives like the Logos Hope's reading thrust since literacy was key to creating a proper workforce. "Government is committed to education from nursery to tertiary. Government has made a significant investment and spent millions so people can have access to reading material. Readers are at the helm of leadership," said Hospedales.
Expanding on the Logos Hope's mission, she added, "It offers an invaluable experience to T&T's citizens. It is a rather unique, innovative project. It promotes international co-operation and an understanding of different cultures." Chrysostum also lauded the vessel for taking literature to nations where people may not have access to bookshops or may have limited access to reading material. She said she had learned about the sophisiticated features of the vessel by searching online.
"We are offering curriculum support in conjunction with natural intelligence. We are also promoting the role of technology in learning 21st century skills," said Chrysostum. She also lauded Colenbrander and his volunteers for the work they had done in Tobago. Each volunteer is apprenticed for a two-year period and strives to promote the Logos Hope's vision. It entails extending equal opportunity to knowledge for all, practical love for those in need, promoting peace by embracing diversity, guiding people towards a purposeful life and leading people towards a personal relationship with the Almighty.
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?About the Logos Hope
Logos is Greek for word. The ship is manned by project director Lloyd Nicholas, CEO Peter Nicoll and director Mike Hey. More than 300 volunteers from 45 different countries live and work on the vessel. Book fair manager Daniel Vaupel said Logos Hope was built in Croatia and underwent work at a shipyard in Germany. It set sail with 35 Germans on board. He, too, waxed warm about the floating bookshop. He was buoyed by the response in Tobago.
"We had about 26,000 visitors on board. About one half of the population.
A lot of people wanted to see the new ship, which is larger than Logos 2," said Vaupel. The vessel is laden with reference, classical and homemaking books and Bibles, fetching from $22. to $300. Logos Hope remains berthed at the Cruise Ship Terminal until October 13. From Tuesday to Saturday, opening hours extend from 10 am to 9 pm. From Sunday to Monday, opening hours are from 2 pm to 9 pm. Entrance fee is three dollars. Children under 16 need to be accompanied by an adult.