I received again a warm welcome. This time from a different captain and crew. The crew is from the Philippines. The captain asked me if I could conduct a church service the next day. This we did and afterwards there was a delicious meal waiting for the crew and chaplain.
The cook is ' known ' in the company for his good cooking! Very important for the morale on the ship.
Last night the crew was busy, from 7 to 10 PM bringing supplies to the ship. No one came to the seafarer's center, they were exhausted.
During our table talk I realized again how blessed we are in Canada when it comes to health care provision. I asked the captain how old he was. Fifty four was the answer. He continued, " I have already a 4 year bonus ". I asked, " What do you mean with bonus? " He continued, " The average age in our country is 50 - 50 plus 4! - there's the bonus! " There is no universal health care in the Philippines. If you get sick and need a doctor or have to be hospitalized you pay and if you don't than that's too bad.....in other words?
Last Wednesday our son Roger came home with severe chest pain. What do you do? You go to the hospital. There he was diagnosed with a collapsed lung. Today is Saturday and he is still there. He is bored and wants to go home. I wonder when a son comes home in the Philippines with severe chest pain and you have no money, no health insurance...............Tough isn't it? Let's keep it all in perspective and stop whining when things take too long in our health care system or when sometimes mistakes are being made. Let's be thankful and appreciative with what we have when it comes to health care and many other things as well in this country.
 |
| Second from the left the captain. We used the ' Today for Seafarers ' for the worship service. |
 |
| On the right the cook together with another crew member. |
