Boats of Hope

Two years after the sailing of a second hospital ship, Dominique Lapierre, in the company of our photographer Jason Taylor, returned to India in order to establish an inventory and to report on a successful action. A project that has given a hint of hope to the people of the Sunbarbas islands in the delta of the Ganges river. The Islands populated by some 1 million people do not even appear on a map... Today, 4 “Ships of Hope” that Lapierre has commissioned, sail on the waters of the Ganges.

Dominique Lapierre, a famous French writer, author of several best sellers such as “The City of Joy” discovered India when he was 18-years-old. At that time he was a reporter for the French weekly Paris Match. His love affair began with a country where splendour and tragedy intermingle. In the country of Gandhi Lapierre discovered remarkable beings who “never complain”. He knew the “real joy of living” and “ the real meaning to the words courage, love, dignity, compassion, faith and hope”.

This great French writer is better known for his literary achievements than for his generous heart and humanitarian efforts. However, he has been roaming the planet, hopping from one conference to another in order to speak about other projects. Lapierre is the only known author to share his royalties with humanitarian actions. Since 22 years and apart from the 4 hospital ships that he has commissioned, Lapierre has contributed towards the healing of 4 million people suffering from tuberculosis, and helped save 9 million children effected by leprosy in the slums of Calcutta alone. He has also built hundreds of wells of potable water.

His first vessel, an old fishing boat was totally renovated in 1998 and equipped with x-ray machines a stock of vaccines and a surgery block. Three more hospital ship projects followed with success and allowed men, women and children to be treated for disease, wounds from animal bites and natural catastrophes.

There were no doctors who accepted to work on these hostile grounds usually named “Hell’s Belly”. The inhabitants are left to suffer alone from Tuberculosis (first cause of mortality in India), cholera and other maladies caused by malnutrition and poor hygiene. Today, thanks to the “Ships of Hope” these people have access to vaccination campaigns, health care, x-rays and even surgery. More than 50,000 inhabitants of the region have already received medical help. A drop of water? Maybe. But as Mother Theresa said, “the ocean is made of drops of water;”