To prepare for a six month stay in the Philippines, crewmembers went through a ‘poverty simulation’ during the voyage to Cebu. The crew were divided into ‘families’ of eight, which each had to make paper bags to earn enough money to pay the rent. Families that didn’t pay the rent were sent to live on a rubbish dump. Esther Ryser (Switzerland) felt the pressure of having to produce enough bags. “Our family only talked about work,” she said. “We didn’t have any quality together.” Esther’s family not only made enough bags to pay the rent, but also managed to send one of their sons to school, which they were very proud of. “You can see what a difficult choice it would be to decide which of your six children to send to school,” Esther added.