Today is World MS Day. This year’s credo is:

A day to celebrate global solidarity and hope for the future
With the theme: Life with MS.

Yes, there is a life with MS. And yes, global solidarity and the build up of strong and caring communities are key elements in creating Hope for the future. Today I am looking back four years ago at the World MS Day 2014, the day we baptized S/Y Oceans of Hope just two weeks before leaving for the circumnavigation with a crew of people living with MS. The aim was exactly to build up network around the world; to build up a worldwide strong and caring community of solidarity – to create hope for the future.

And so we did! We sailed around the world – an affirmation of our love of life – and we changed the perception of MS.

(click thumbnails)

The impact of the Oceans of Hope circumnavigation never cease to overwhelm me, as does all our other activities and events since our homecoming: Oceans of Hope Challenge in Turkey last year and Croatia this year, our trip to Norway last year, the weekly sailing on the Sound between Denmark and Sweden and all the planned events this summer.

Common to them all are the spirit of love, the feeling of belonging and worthiness and the zest for life. We are ordinary people doing ordinary things – and sometimes even extraordinary things. MS is not out of the equation – but it has lost its power over the brave sailors of Oceans of Hope.

So, yes, there is a Life with MS. And #WeAreOceansofHope will continue to create global solidarity and strong communities. We don´t know what the future will bring – but we can assure that we will be there for each other all the way. There is Oceans of Hope for the future.

HAPPY WORLD MS DAY
Mikkel Anthonisen