Nepalese porters in action
Mountain porters in Nepal are some of the strongest men and women on earth. These rugged people carry loads for the trekking and expedition industry, working for only a few dollars a day. Porters can be seen carrying loads of over 60kgs at altitudes exceeding 5,000 Meters. This is often done in cotton jackets and sandals. Porters are typically lowland farmers who migrate to the popular trekking routes in search of work. The money they earn while trekking is essential to the cash-starved local economies of rural Nepal. Nepal's trekking industry, in the meantime, faces a critical situation because of the ongoing internal conflict between the Government and Maoist insurgents. The industry’s difficulties are now being exacerbated by the power game between the King and the political parties. The problems faced by the trekking industry flow on to Nepal’s porters and guides, who have greatly decreased opportunities for work, Porters and guides are struggling for survival of themselves and their families. This only adds to the long term problems with which porters are faced on a daily basis: lack of recognition of basic human rights including education, safe working environments, basic health care, living wages and, perhaps simplest but most fundamental of all, a widely observed load limit.
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