This is something i have been wanting to write since a long long time...
Apologies to all the ones who feel i have offended their feelings or moral thoughts....
Being a trekker i have realized all the ppl that come to Nepal to reach the mountains or nearer to the himalayas have been acting in a funny (my definition) way. I mean why the hell do you need to distribute the poor Nepalese kids living in the Himalayas some sweets and pencils? Just so that you can cleanse your conscience and feel great about doing some great act of humanity. Ever thought what that kid would do with that pencil when there are no schools around? play with it, scribble something on someone's wall and then throw it way... it wouldnt do any good, but does anyone realize what bad it is doing?
Nepalese are poor, yes and most nepalese survive in about 2 dollars a month (USD)... Yes, it is very good to see the English speaking foreigners in Nepal, talking to the kids, kuchipooing them, but many dont realize that they are psychologically making the beggars out of the poor nepalese kids. Please... Stop it.
If there is something that anyone feels like doing, sponsor a kid for one year education... that would cost about 100 dollars (the money spent on chocolate bars and beer during half of the trek)... or sponsor a kid to a school in the city... that would also be much less than the luxury expenses... but please please, dont gloat over the idea that there are a bunch of kids with running nose and bare-foot, wide opwn palms for you to drop a candy or a pencil in them.
What is worse about trekking? I will tell you... its nice to see the pictures, the scenes and all that... but many of us dont know the real picture... why would we? We need to trek, make the best out of those 10 days... we can always pick up a trekking agency in Kathmandu and then everything will be done for us... even we can be ported if we get tired in the mid-way. What fun!! So, what do we do... pay about 200 dollars to the trekking agency and we are free for the week. Out food/staying/walking/sleeping, everything is looked after and we have a great time. Do we realize that the porters who carry our baggages and all our load, (right from our tent, dining table, food, stove and sometimes, even US) are being paid about 3 dollars a day, without any benefits, no shoes, or jackets... and in the end, when we give a tip of about 20 dollars to the trekking guide, we feel all our sins are cleansed coz we have helped a troubled man.
How many of us know that all the porters who carry our loads during trek have no medical or health benefits. That means if they fall sick in the mean time, there will be no one to take care of them and they will have to find help for themselves or just rot in the way. While we have nice cozy tents and warm beds to sleep at night prepared by the same workers, they have to find caves and sheds in the route to sleep and have to feed themselves some stew or boil something so that they cane save that 3 dollars a day to help maintain their family.
Tourism brings about a huge economy in Nepal each year, but every year i go trekking, i find the same porters, living the same misery while the trekking agency owners have a new car every year! Hilarious!!!
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
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5 comments:
You make good points about "handouts" in the trekking regions and the exploitation of porters. It's a simple matter to try and find agencies that insure and pay well their porters as well as checking each day that they have somewhere to sleep, are fed well, are properly clothed AND to find out their names.
The other irritating thing is the trekkers who seem to think that the poorest kids are in the mountains and need a new school built, etc etc, when it is the inner cities (Kathmandu especially) where the lowest caste kids need help. This is why we set up www.nepalschoolsaid.co.uk to do the job ourselves!
What is this world if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to watch the mountains grow,
Or wonder where those rivers flow.
No time to speak with didi or dai,
Except "namaste!" passing by.
No time to stand beside the tracks,
And empathise with burdened yaks.
No time to see the porters fed,
Or safe at night within a bed.
No time to feel the prayers ascending,
From flags on bamboo poles a-bending.
No time to demonstrate respect,
By passing Mani on the left.
So when you hear those monks at prayer,
Think how their lives are full of care.
And take some time to ponder how,
To make the most of "here and now".
Kathmandu, April 2003.
I have to agree with you eclipsed thoughts.reminds me of this phrase, It is better to teach a man to fish so he will always have food tan give him a fish.I wish schools would be built so that children can get an education rather than handouts.
I have never been in favor of donating something, I always feel donations should be in return or something. I like the model of Goonj, where they make people volunteer for some community thing (cleaning roads, planting trees) before giving them clothes.
For sponsoring education, I liked this model in the book "Daddy Long Legs", where the donor asks the girl to write him a letter every week, describing her progress. I thought that was really good.
I just feel that you need to empower people and not make them beggars :)
This post should be read, understood and remembered by one and all.
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