04/20/2025
THE PEACE BOAT (A short essay)
By Andreas Larentzakis
Dedicated to my 2 mentors of Peace: Louis D’Amore - Founder of IIPT (International Institute for Peace through Tourism) & Nancy Rivard – President of Airline Ambassadors airlineamb.org
Andreas slowly walked the short distance from his apartment block in Brisbane, Australia to his travel office. It was just after 9 a.m and all of his staff were at work, engaged in one of the most exciting projects the company had ever put together. His company had chartered a ship for a Millennium cruise, which would take some 250 Australians, most of them relatives of servicemen, to the Anzac Cove at the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey.
This was to commemorate the 85th Anzac Day anniversary of what Australians consider a National Day of Remembrance, dedicated to those who fought and died during the 8-month campaign, which started with the landing at the Gallipoli Peninsula on the morning of the 25th of April, 1915. Close to 10,000 Australians lost their lives and more than 90,000 Turks died protecting their country.
The phone was unusually busy this morning of the 17th of August 1999 as Shirley, the office manager, walked into Andreas’ office. “There was a strong earthquake in Istanbul and lots of people have died. We do not know yet if any travelers were killed or have been affected”, Shirley said in an anxious voice holding back her tears.
Soon after, all telephone lines were busy with people calling to cancel their holidays to Turkey, while others were inquiring about relatives who were currently in the country. Later in the afternoon it was established that no tourists were injured and most of the hotels as well as the Turkish monuments were unaffected. The epicenter of the earthquake was north of Istanbul and had severely affected the town of Izmit and the surrounding area where thousands of people had been killed.
Andreas was at a loss trying to reconcile his sadness for the devastation in Turkey and settle his concern about the financial damage to his travel business. “How can you think about business when thousands of people have just lost their lives?” a little voice cried inside him. When he raised his head again Jodie, one of his travel consultants, was standing in front of him with a shy smile on her face. “You know”, Jodie said, “not everybody is cancelling. I had a client who said, 'I am not cancelling, it is now more than ever Turkey needs Australian tourists'”.
In a flush of inspiration Andreas picked up his phone to call his PR company. “Please write this title down”, he said to Satu his PR consultant – “It is now more than ever Turkey needs the Australian tourists. Kompas Holidays commits $10.00 for each person who will travel to Turkey in the year 2000. All monies collected will go towards the people affected by the earthquake”. “Please prepare a press release”, he continued with urgency in his voice. The next day Andreas was sitting among 10 other Australian tour operators specializing in Turkey, who had also agreed to make the same offer to their client base.
This was the first time ever that competitors, instead of fighting for market share, were jointly contributing to a PR campaign for the benefit of people affected by the earthquake. At the same time they were naturally promoting their travel businesses. The Turkish consul who was also present at this meeting commented with some emotion in his voice. “Sir, I never expected a Greek Australian to come forward with this initiative.” “You will be pleased to learn”, he continued, “that the first crew who reached and assisted the earthquake victims yesterday in Turkey was also Greek”. The press world-wide commented on the fact that the Greek crew being the first to reach the disaster area in Turkey was a paradigm shift in the politically strained relationships between the two countries.
The Arcadia cruise ship sailed leisurely into the Dardanelles with 240 Australians quietly watching the coast where over 100,000 people lost their lives 85 years earlier. Their solemn, reflective faces were a poignant contrast to the rugged coastline, which had borne witness to the loss of life of thousands of young soldiers. It was a beautiful spring morning of the 23rd of April 2000. Two days later, on the 25th April, all of the people on board would participate in the Dawn Service marking the 85th Gallipoli Commemorations. However, not everybody was on deck. Franko, Gail, Casilda, Gloria and Zag representing a US organization called Airline Ambassadors, were busy filling dozens of colorful plastic bags and boxes. Little toy bears, dolls, pencils, toothpastes, cakes of soap, school supplies and hundreds of T-shirts offered by the Greek captain, were among the things being packed away with care and pride.
The next morning upon arrival in Istanbul, a small van and an army truck supplied by the Red Cross parked at the dock, while the ship’s crew loaded all the plastic bags and boxes. Soon after Andreas, his wife Nicolien and the Airline Ambassadors boarded the van, which was followed by the truck and headed Northeast of Istanbul to Izmit. They were to deliver the material aid donated by the Australian tourists on board Arcadia to the earthquake victims of Turkey. All of them were struggling with mixed emotions as they reached the scene of the devastation before arriving at the tent city of Izmit.
The small group was greeted by the lieutenant responsible for the logistics of this makeshift village. He explained that close to 1,000,000 people were affected by the earthquake. He was deeply thankful for the visit and proudly explained how the whole operation, of taking care of this many people, was run. On the left wall there was a notice board outlining the countries, which had provided various levels of material help and assistance. “Poorer countries like India have given the most!” exclaimed Gail. On the opposite wall there were dozens of hand-made cards displayed, which were sent by school kids from around the world.
“It must be so hard for you there”, one of them read, “we are thinking of you, we love you” - words swimming in between little drawn flowers, cute hearts and butterflies. Soon after, it was time to meet the people of Izmit. A soldier pushed the trolley with several plastic bags full of presents, followed by the group of visitors. Within seconds the Turkish kids laughing and jostling, surrounded the group. One little girl tightly hugged a yellow toy duck almost bigger than herself and a young boy took 3 teddy bears, waving at his little sisters, reassuring them of their presents.
It took no more than 20 minutes and the party was over. Kadir explained to the group that the rest of the supplies would be distributed more systematically at a later stage. A Turkish woman waved at Andreas to follow and soon the group found themselves in the village coffee shop. Half an hour later the kids reappeared with their local teacher who explained in English that they had made presents for the visitors. As the little van pulled away followed by the kids, all were affected and humbled by this experience. “We have taken away with us so much more than we brought”, murmured Franko of Airline Ambassadors, reflecting everybody’s feelings.
That night as the ship sailed away from Istanbul, Andreas was on deck enjoying the quiet of the evening and as he gazed at the sky he remembered what he had read in a book some time ago:
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars!
Louis D’Amore - President of IIPT (International Institute for Peace through Tourism) iipt.org
Nancy Rivard – President of Airline Ambassadors airlineamb.org
For further information on the people affected by the 1999 Turkish earthquake
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_%C4%B0zmit_earthquake
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