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On August 13, 2017, under a hot summer sun, Peace Boat set sail from Yokohama to embark on its 95th Global Voyage. The ship, the Ocean Dream, will pass through the Suez and Panama Canals as it travels around the world visiting 23 ports in 19 countries across Asia, Europe, and North America.

Guest Educator, Tom Ken Yamamoto, travelled on Peace Boat's 94th Global Voyage for Peace and Sustainability from Acajutla, El Salvador to Honolulu, Hawaii. A fourth-generation Okinawan who lives in Hawaii, he is a past president of the Hawaii United Okinawa Association (HUOA), an organization that preserves and promotes Okinawan culture, arts and history. While the 94th Voyage docked in Honolulu, Tom led a group of participants to Hawaii Plantation Village, where the group were able to view replica houses of those who immigrated to Hawaii to work in the sugar plantations, particularly in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

As Peace Boat's 94th Global Voyage for Peace docked in Stockholm on June 2, 2017, a symposium was held onboard Peace Boat's ship to raise awareness of the High Level United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Four Iranian victims of chemical weapons used during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s joined Peace Boat's 94th voyage from Piraeus, Greece to Valencia, Spain. While onboard they shared their testimonies and Peace Boat participants learned about the effects of using such weapons and how their impact is still felt today. After the consequences of chemical weapon use during World War I, the 1925 Geneva Protocol was established which prohibited their use in war. However, the Iran-Iraq war saw Iraqi forces use chemical weapons not only towards military personnel but also civilians.

Panisara Skulpichairat (Poy) was one of the first guest educators onboard the 94th Peace Boat voyage, joining the ship from Yokohama to Thailand. A Sexuality Issues and Transgender Activist, Poy spoke onboard about sexuality and work to improve transgender rights in Thailand. In her lecture, ‘Transgender in Thailand', Poy began with an introduction to the basics of sex, gender and sexuality.

April 12, 2017 saw the start of Peace Boat's 94th Global Voyage for Peace. Departing from the port of Yokohama, the voyage began with an official departure ceremony. This gave an opportunity for participants to say goodbye to loved ones and mark the start of the circumnavigation around the globe.

Amory Lovins and Judy Hill Lovins live in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, US, 2200 metres above sea level. Affectionately referred to as "the banana farm" by the pair—after the tropical fruits grown in their greenhouse—their home is the embodiment of their shared values: to use energy efficiently, reduce one's carbon impact on the planet, and live in harmony with nature.

Just one hour south of Lima, Peru's capital, lies Villa El Salvador, a town created from scratch in the desert in 1971. Its first residents were migrants from indigenous communities who moved to Lima because of the great earthquake of 1970, and to flee armed conflict. They were prevented from settling in the city's residential areas and were instead offered land in its outskirts, then called ‘el arenal': the sandy place.

On January 25, 2017, a special guest came onboard Peace Boat while it was docked in the port of Montevideo, Uruguay. Known to many as "the world's most humble president" - due to his simple lifestyle and his donation of 90 per cent of his presidential salary to charity - Jose "Pepe" Mujica, the former President of Uruguay, made a special visit to the Ocean Dream to deliver a speech to Peace Boat participants.

As Peace Boat's 94th Voyage for Peace and Sustainability was docked in the city of La Guaira in Venezuela, an event was held onboard with the theme to realise a nuclear-free world. This formed part of the Global Voyage for a Nuclear Free World: Peace Boat Hibakusha Project taking place on the voyage where atomic bomb survivors are travelling around the world to give their testimonies of the bombings and appeal for nuclear weapons to be abolished.

Brazil boasts a rich social fabric - it is home to indigenous peoples, people of Portuguese descent, and those of African descent, among others - but poverty and inequality are perennial problems. While the legal minimum wage in Brazil is presently 937 reals per month, this is approximately four times less than the amount required for a decent standard of living, according to a recent survey produced by a Brazilian workers' union. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, participants had the opportunity to learn in-depth about the history, culture and socioeconomic issues of Brazil - Peace Boat's first port of call on the Latin American continent.

In early January 2017, Peace Boat sailed around the south-eastern coast of Africa - calling in Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa - and afforded participants the opportunity to deepen their understanding of some of the pressing social and environmental challenges which presently face the continent. During this leg of the 93rd Global Voyage, two guest educators came onboard to focus the minds of participants on one issue which blighted the lives of millions of South Africans for decades: apartheid.