STRONG. Stable. Cheerful. These are the typical images associated by the public with Filipino seafarers. Many believe that their happy disposition and physical strength at work are such that they could simply laugh off the rigors at sea and endure some more.
In the eyes of Matthias Ristau, however, the story of the Filipino seafarer is different from what is seen on the surface.
Matthias Ristau, new secretary-general of the German Seamen’s Mission or Deutsche Seemannsmission (DSM) CONTRIBUTED PHOTO