Have you heard that the world’s biggest floating library is now at the Port of Manila?

Yes, the MV Doulos Hope is a floating library docked near the Eva Macapagal Cruise Terminal at Pier 15 in the Port Area, Manila and is selling books for a great cause. The word “doulos” is Greek which means “servant,” so the ship basically is a “servant of hope.”

This servant of hope started way back in the 1970s with a mother ship named “Logos” until it expanded to more ships traveling around the world. Doulos Hope is their newest ship, built in Germany and launched in May 2023. It is run by German non-profit organization GBA Ships and is manned by volunteers from all over the world, including Filipinos.

“Good books for all” is what you can expect upon boarding the ship which has a gross tonnage of 3,370 and overall length of 82 meters.

True enough, there are plenty of good books in there! One of the books I saw was “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. They also have “The New Strong Willed Child” by Dr. James Dobson, and many other books ranging in genres from Christian, children’s, cooking, novels, fiction, journals, business, and education. Truly, there’s a book for everyone!

The ships have visited over 480 ports in more than 150 countries and territories and have welcomed over 50 million visitors on board. The volunteers will tour you around the ship with one goal — to share knowledge, help, and hope. Aww... isn’t that sweet?

Yes, speaking of sweet, all proceeds from the book fair go to the most vulnerable communities in the countries where they dock. Ship volunteers usually go into the surrounding areas to provide community care, partnering with local communities to bring good news and hope to people of diverse backgrounds and cultures, disregarding all differences.

The Doulos Hope will be in Manila until 14 April and is open to all port users and book lovers. If you wish to visit the ship, you would need a QR code to ensure your reservation with only a P50 entrance fee for adults, while children under 13 are free.

For those who would like to visit and buy books for a greater cause, you may log on to this link: https://www.facebook.com/DoulosHopeThePhilippines

Before Manila, the Doulos Hope docked in San Fernando, La Union, where it welcomed over 48,000 visitors and before that it dropped anchor in Subic.

You see, my dear readers, hope is universal. It runs across all races, boundaries, classes, ages, and genders, taking no religious or political sides.

The Doulos Hope is a reminder that when life gets difficult, there is always hope that we can cling to.

The country may be undergoing extreme heat, hunger, ballooning debt, political wars, territorial disputes, inflation, natural calamities, etc., but it is innate in our Filipino spirit to carry on and hope for the best. After all, where there is Hope, there is Life.

Let’s sail towards hope and move forward like the big ship of one united nation. After all, we are all in the same boat.

Let’s sail (sale), shall we?