Seamen serve on the land too

USS JOHN Young has been tossed about in the Indian media as much as it has been on the high seas. For more reasons than one. This time though, the crew is in the news for what they did on land.

Twelve of the crew from the warship, on port call, out on the streets to do what they thought was `their bit' for the country they were docking at. ``It is a beautiful country,'' they say, ``You are lucky to be staying here.''

And they thought they were lucky to be helping out too, especially with an organisation that was working with the rehabilitation of street girls - Mariyalaya. The Commander of the ship, Gefforey T. Pack, insisted that yesterday's event was a `useful function'. And how did they choose that particular organisation? ``With a little bit of collaboration with the US Consulate in Chennai and getting information from other ships that have been here on port call,'' the Captain said. Last stop was Thailand.

Crew leader Michael Malone said his team did a little bit of painting, carpentry and plumbing work for the girls' home in George Town, close to the port. Actually, zoom in zone was: 25, Pedariyar Koil Street in Broadway.

Their contribution has gone into the construction of the new vocational rehabilitation centre for street children. Driving in at 10 a.m., they worked with basic implements that they were not probably used to handling, and at around 3-30 p.m., with a short round of farewells, they were off, after a day of sweating it out in the heat of Chennai. For most of the team, it is a first visit to India and they are busy soaking in all the impressions.

Not being able to use advanced equipment for the painting, plumbing and carpentry (due to the lack of electricity at the site) was a new experience all by itself for the crew. ``So much for what the text books tell us!'' raps out the strapping Gunners Maid Denice Young, who has been to nearly 15 countries all over the world. ``The books tell us about Mumbai and Delhi and of course, the Taj. But we have no clue as to how people live,'' she says. Denice thinks it is a ``great thing that these homeless children are being taken care of''.

`Community Relations' is what these men and women call what they are doing. Commander Pack says it is quite common with US ships, wherever they dock for port call. ``Wherever we go, we engage our sailors with the local population, in a mutually beneficial exercise,'' he explains. That is apart from all the things seamen do on their `time off' when anchors go down near a port! All part of tradition.

And no, it does not really worry them that their contribution has been fleeting. ``It might be temporary, yes. But we believe that every deed we've done will help somebody and make a difference,'' they say. No, the temporary nature of the contribution does not in anyway minimise the effort put in.

Sr. Nirmala, director, Mariyalaya, said the team could meet only a few children, as the rest were away at school. ``Their

work would probably amount to one day's work for us, but that is not the way we look at it. They were here and took time off to help us out. That is what matters.'' ``Aye, Aye Ma'am,'' like the sailors would say.

By Ramya Kannan

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