We pulled up next to a boat that would be our sleeping and dining quarters for the next few days. I could see swarms of all kinds of thirsty/hungry bugs in the light on the outside of the ship.
Over the next few days I filmed the people who visit the ship for basic medical care and the care providers. The patients are mostly the elderly and children. The children many times have either hurt themselves playing or working. Many do not go to school because they live in such remote areas and the government is incapable of providing basic needs.
I’d get up at 530am-545am each day a to begin shooting at sunrise and already the line would be forming despite the ship not opening it’s doors until 9am. Some patients travel from far away and need to start making their way back as soon as possible before it gets too dark.
At first people would just stare at me and then if I pointed the camera at them they would look away. On the second day they were much more inclined to interact with me and would stand in front of the camera until I took their picture. I would then show them what I had just done and they would smile.
The work that goes on in these ships is so basic but so important. I filmed an elderly man who had his bandages taken off after he had his cataract removed the day before. We were on land across from the ship and the doctor asked him if he could see the ship, the man said, “Yes!” in Bengali and didn’t stop smiling after that as he looked at everything around him with child-like curiosity — including his daughter. Someone had performed an eye operation on his other eye but had botched it, he hadn’t been able to see at all for years.
The medical staff live on the ship for at least one year and they all seem to enjoy the work they do. I spoke with several of them and I think they were taken aback by my awe at their work.
One evening I was filming a sunset and the noticed people unloading hay from a ship. As I was doing that and looking through the viewfinder I looked up and took a slow look around me. It was so beautiful, desolate and monochrome. Between the sand and sky the color didn’t change much only the sunlight and a little grass created any color. That and the striking color of the clothes the women wore.
Next: Why do they do it?