The recently installed staff pantries have become centres of community and culture aboard Logos Hope. These small kitchens enable crewmembers to cook their own food at any time. Families and people who have been on the ships for at least five years can use three small pantries in accommodation sections, and there is a bigger kitchen adjoining the Staff Lounge for everyone to use.
Often groups gather with others from their own cultures to enjoy a taste of home. Other times people take the opportunity to learn to cook food from different countries. Ming Bee Lo-Brouwer (Malaysia), who cooks in the pantries often, finds that cooking helps strengthen the community. She said, “People can spend more time as small groups and get to know each other better by sharing food. Especially now, we can cook and eat in the Staff Lounge where it’s quiet; it’s really good for relationship building and catching up.”
