This was an article I wrote after leading a Himalyan expedition for World Challenge expeditions. The state of the porters equipment was terrible and they suffered quite a bit.
I managed to get this piece published in the July 2008 issue of TGO, the great outdoors magazine. www.tgomagazine.co.uk
Look into the details of your expeditions more carefully is what I
learned!
I managed to get this piece published in the July 2008 issue of TGO, the great outdoors magazine. www.tgomagazine.co.uk
Look into the details of your expeditions more carefully is what I
learned!
same in the other eye, I give the man the bottle to keep. Unsure whether to be grateful or not (he was expecting a tablet), he thanks me and leaves, wondering where his friend disappeared to.
I work as a freelance Winter and International Mountain Leader and run a small company called Wolf Expeditions. Often my work is in India but we don’t employ porters; we simply use the small but tough local horses from around the region. On this occasion, however, I was working for a well-known larger company, leading a lovely school group from Switzerland. It was my first trip using porters and this left me in something of a dilemma.
When I first saw the porters, the rain was pouring down like it only can in the monsoon, and my group of students was huddled in a tiny teashop which could only just manage to contain them all – sipping on warm chai and feeling glum that they had to walk in the wet. We had just travelled for four hours in jeeps along fantastic cliff roads, wheels spinning in the muddy tracks, suspension throwing us to the roof at every bump. Arriving at a village where we were to meet the trek support team, I found a group of young, under-equipped porters from Nepal, none of whom had waterproofs, despite the monsoon rains.
When you lead an expedition organised through your own company every detail is known to you and such things can be avoided, but as a freelance leader you often have to assess and run with situations on the spot. Should I refuse to go on trek with such under-equipped staff, and turn the team around, losing at least three days of itinerary which the students had worked so hard to save for? Should the porters themselves be responsible for coming equipped? They know they are going into cold, wet conditions and have spent hundreds of rupees on cigarettes, but have bought neither hats nor gloves, both of which can be purchased relatively cheaply. Should the in-country agent who arranged the porters for our expedition be responsible for making sure they arrive appropriately equipped for the work? Should the large, wealthyUK company provide their teams with equipment?
I have no answers for this; perhaps everybody should take responsibility and it is a compromise of many factors. I have little faith in black and white answers, for it is a complicated world, but I know that when a porter is next to me in flip flops and a cotton shirt – shivering at 5000m and complaining of snow blindness – that something is unacceptably wrong and the question needs to be asked. Possibly this question should not be “Whose fault?” but “What can be done?”
I work as a freelance Winter and International Mountain Leader and run a small company called Wolf Expeditions. Often my work is in India but we don’t employ porters; we simply use the small but tough local horses from around the region. On this occasion, however, I was working for a well-known larger company, leading a lovely school group from Switzerland. It was my first trip using porters and this left me in something of a dilemma.
When I first saw the porters, the rain was pouring down like it only can in the monsoon, and my group of students was huddled in a tiny teashop which could only just manage to contain them all – sipping on warm chai and feeling glum that they had to walk in the wet. We had just travelled for four hours in jeeps along fantastic cliff roads, wheels spinning in the muddy tracks, suspension throwing us to the roof at every bump. Arriving at a village where we were to meet the trek support team, I found a group of young, under-equipped porters from Nepal, none of whom had waterproofs, despite the monsoon rains.
When you lead an expedition organised through your own company every detail is known to you and such things can be avoided, but as a freelance leader you often have to assess and run with situations on the spot. Should I refuse to go on trek with such under-equipped staff, and turn the team around, losing at least three days of itinerary which the students had worked so hard to save for? Should the porters themselves be responsible for coming equipped? They know they are going into cold, wet conditions and have spent hundreds of rupees on cigarettes, but have bought neither hats nor gloves, both of which can be purchased relatively cheaply. Should the in-country agent who arranged the porters for our expedition be responsible for making sure they arrive appropriately equipped for the work? Should the large, wealthyUK company provide their teams with equipment?
I have no answers for this; perhaps everybody should take responsibility and it is a compromise of many factors. I have little faith in black and white answers, for it is a complicated world, but I know that when a porter is next to me in flip flops and a cotton shirt – shivering at 5000m and complaining of snow blindness – that something is unacceptably wrong and the question needs to be asked. Possibly this question should not be “Whose fault?” but “What can be done?”
I spoke with many of the porters during the evenings on the trek and learned that, although Nepalese, they were not the legendary Sherpas, but unskilled, uneducated workers who came to work in India for the higher wages. We were paying 150 Rupees, roughly £2 each per day. Beneath night skies heavy with scattered stars they would smoke rolled tobacco while cooking tsampa and rice, before all huddling together under one large blanket to sleep.
On returning from the trip I asked a few questions about what kind of medical and life insurance such staff can expect to receive. To be fair, the response was not completely negative: the in-country agent assured me that if any of the staff supplied by his company were injured or killed – and this does happen not too infrequently – then the agent pays any hospital bills or, in the case of death, would pay the family a sum of money. A problem however is that this is just a tacit and verbal agreement and in no way legally binding. If the casualty became disabled or was left needing long-term medical care, would the agent still pay? Maybe. It is not what I would necessarily count as “being insured”.
Another problem, at the other end of the debate, is that small trekking and guiding companies cannot afford to insure 30 or 40 porters under a Western style insurance policy. If they were to pass the costs of such insurance on to the clients then custom could easily take a sharp drop, which would be highly undesirable for all parties involved: porters and their families, agents, leaders, trekkers and the local economy.
On returning from the trip I asked a few questions about what kind of medical and life insurance such staff can expect to receive. To be fair, the response was not completely negative: the in-country agent assured me that if any of the staff supplied by his company were injured or killed – and this does happen not too infrequently – then the agent pays any hospital bills or, in the case of death, would pay the family a sum of money. A problem however is that this is just a tacit and verbal agreement and in no way legally binding. If the casualty became disabled or was left needing long-term medical care, would the agent still pay? Maybe. It is not what I would necessarily count as “being insured”.
Another problem, at the other end of the debate, is that small trekking and guiding companies cannot afford to insure 30 or 40 porters under a Western style insurance policy. If they were to pass the costs of such insurance on to the clients then custom could easily take a sharp drop, which would be highly undesirable for all parties involved: porters and their families, agents, leaders, trekkers and the local economy.
I have spent the last six years living and working in the Himalaya and would dismiss the notion of there being any particular “bogey men”. The in-country agents I have worked with do have genuine concern and care for all their staff – porters, horsemen, cooks, guides and helpers – and are often good friends with them and their family members; but most agents I know have tiny companies and
are unable to provide BMC style insurance. The UK leaders are nearly all freelance and are in a similar situation, nor is it really their responsibility. Possibly the larger international companies could do more regarding insurance and equipment.
The next time I am scheduled to work with 30 porters I am certainly going to be bringing 30 pairs of gloves, hats, sunglasses and jackets with me, easily affordable in the local markets. This is the least I can do. Knowing now what to expect, I feel responsible for ensuring as far as possible that incidents do not occur on my expeditions.
Perhaps there is something all those of us who work in the Greater Ranges with large expeditions can do: the agents, the international companies, the leaders and the clients. Individual trekkers and climbers can also play a part in eliminating unfair conditions and burdens. If you are booking an expedition to such a place and intend using local staff, make sure they will be given their own shelters (not the client mess tent, as in bad weather they will often be denied access to it). Make sure they are being paid a good wage for the region and that they have appropriate equipment when you first meet them. Ensure they have access to medical supplies and some kind of insurance.
If you are the client on such an expedition, then you are the fuel for the industry and in many respects have the most power. If you are not happy with conditions, take it up immediately with the trek leader and if things aren’t resolved, complain as soon as possible to the expedition company. The situation facing porters is a complex problem, however it is one that can be more than just addressed – it can and should be solved.
Adrienne
xx
are unable to provide BMC style insurance. The UK leaders are nearly all freelance and are in a similar situation, nor is it really their responsibility. Possibly the larger international companies could do more regarding insurance and equipment.
The next time I am scheduled to work with 30 porters I am certainly going to be bringing 30 pairs of gloves, hats, sunglasses and jackets with me, easily affordable in the local markets. This is the least I can do. Knowing now what to expect, I feel responsible for ensuring as far as possible that incidents do not occur on my expeditions.
Perhaps there is something all those of us who work in the Greater Ranges with large expeditions can do: the agents, the international companies, the leaders and the clients. Individual trekkers and climbers can also play a part in eliminating unfair conditions and burdens. If you are booking an expedition to such a place and intend using local staff, make sure they will be given their own shelters (not the client mess tent, as in bad weather they will often be denied access to it). Make sure they are being paid a good wage for the region and that they have appropriate equipment when you first meet them. Ensure they have access to medical supplies and some kind of insurance.
If you are the client on such an expedition, then you are the fuel for the industry and in many respects have the most power. If you are not happy with conditions, take it up immediately with the trek leader and if things aren’t resolved, complain as soon as possible to the expedition company. The situation facing porters is a complex problem, however it is one that can be more than just addressed – it can and should be solved.
Adrienne
xx