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AUSTRALIA
Lyn Taylor
2003 has been an
eventful year for the team here in Australia. In June I traveled
to Peru and met up with Alison at the Inca Nan Office. I was
very impressed with the work that Ali had been doing in Cuzco,
as she has a lot of red tape to get through as the Government
is very difficult to deal with. I was able to take over approx
100kg of clothing for the porters in Cuzco and hope to take
over another load when I return in June this year.
Whilst in Peru I did
the Inca Trail and was impressed that there is a porter load
restriction of 20kg plus 5kg of their own and although they
are not required to be adequately clothed, all seemed to have
shoes and warm clothing. I was there in the middle of winter
and found it was quite different to Nepal, as there is not
any snow so it is less likely that anyone would suffer from
frostbite. I also trekked north of Peru in the mountaineering
area and the trekking companies steer towards using donkeys
rather than porters.
Although I have been
away for 22 weeks this year I have managed to continue with
my slide presentations and talks on the Porter issues.
THANK YOU
Thanks to all of my clients last year I was able to take over
to Nepal a huge amount of clothing, and very happy to hand
over to Trish Bachelor a cheque for AUD$500 for the Machermo
Project and AUD$500 to Ben Ayers for Porters Progress. On
returning home and thinking that our Australian funds were
now exhausted, I was elated to receive an email from Phil
Hulcome who was planning to travel to Nepal in December and
do voluntary work with Porters Progress. On behalf of IPPG
I would like to thank Phil for his tireless work in collecting
a total of $1580 of which $300 was donated to Porters Progress.
I met Phil in the PP office in December and he was very excited
to be helping Ben with PP.
I would also like to
thank World Expeditions and Peregrine Australia for collecting
gear and taking it to Nepal, also thank you for all of those
trekking stores in Sydney and Melbourne who have donated gear
towards the clothing bank.
Thanks to Paramount Gymnasium
of Ascot Vale, and Ascot Vale Sports & Fitness Centre, for
arranging the collection of boots, sleeping bags, thermal
wear etc. from their members, which was delivered to Peru.
Thanks also to Qantas and Lan Chile for permission to carry
excess baggage to Lima.
The Kathmandu store located
at town hall in Sydney (Mr Simon Wilson) has agreed to give
IPPG $100 worth of vests as a donation.
Two other people who
are helping me at the moment are Coralie Hicks who has some
wonderful promotional ideas planned for 2004 and Kirsty Robertson
who in 2003 spoke to many groups mainly through her contacts
at University Mountaineering clubs, bushwalking clubs and
Duke of Edinburgh groups. Kirsty's real hope in 2004 is to
produce some sort of educational material that can be used
by reps in schools and with groups. Rachel Stanton is also
very active by assisting in putting this newsletter together
- thank you Rachel. Ken Chamberlain down in Melbourne is still
spreading the good word on IPPG.
Plans for 2004
My plan for 2004 is to present the Porter Photo Exhibition
here in Sydney and with the assistance of my colleagues and
Ben Ayers who is planning to visit Australia in December and
some well know mountaineering identities it may just happen
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CANADA
Elsie James
Have boots will
travel! IPPG reps Elsie James and Wanda Vivequin managed to
tap enough Canadian travelers on the shoulder to move across
at least 150 pairs of boots for porters to Nepal, in time
for the autumn trekking season. It seems everyone lugging
a huge duffelbag with donated boots (mainly from Mountain
Equipment Coop in Vancouver and Edmonton. Thanks MEC!!) had
no problems getting the goodies into the country.
The storeroom at Porters
Progress in Kathmandu was emptied quickly as the donated boots
were loaned out to porters heading into the very busy Khumbu
and Annapurna regions. It is marvelous to know that many pairs
of hard working feet were well shod this season thanks to
the generosity of Canadians.
Boots continue to pile
up in both Vancouver and Edmonton awaiting couriers so if
you know someone heading over to Nepal please contact Wanda
on wandavivequin@hotmail.com.
Presentations on IPPG
activities and screening the video Carrying the Burden were
the mainstay of our efforts and included slides shows in Toronto,
Edmonton, Calgary and Banff. The Banff and Edmonton efforts
were boosted by support from Everest summiteers Pat Morrow
and Deryl Kelly (Deryl is the youngest Canadian to summit
Everest and works at the University of Alberta)– thanks to
you two for your time and support.
Elsie also received a
$100 honorarium for her presentation at Mt Royal College in
Calgary on IPPG and $100 was collected during a presentation
at the University of Alberta on one of the coldest, windiest
nights of the year.
Finally, Wanda managed
to get an article about the rescue of a porter in the Gokyo
Valley and the vital role the rescue post at Machermo played
in this, published in the Nepali Times during the high profile
50th Anniversary celebrations for the first ascent of Everest.
The article featured on the same page an opinion piece by
Reinhold Messner, so we are certain many people will have
read this amazing story.
 Informal
advocacy by all IPPG representatives around Canada continues
to play a vital role in highlighting the issues surrounding
portering. Whether it be working in a store, sharing a cup
of tea with folks traveling to countries where IPPG activities
are being undertaken or talking with people on the trekking
trails……every little bit counts.
Thanks for everything
– the Canadian IPPG team.
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EAST
AFRICA Chris Morris
I have had contacts
with Tourism Concern in the UK and passed on various background
info about the history and conditions of portering in East
Africa. Also linked with a US company, African Safaris & Expeditions,
and they are keen to link up and supply protective clothing
to porters organisations in Moshi.
I was taken ill when
last in Tanzania and unable to complete what I'd hoped to
do. Since then my family commitments back in UK have kept
me here - and are likely to do so for immediate future - I
fear I am going to be of little help this year. I would happily
yield my position to someone more able to be active than me
at present.
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FRANCE
Dr Nicholas Peschanski
I gave a photo session last October in Dieppe General Hospital.
That was a great success and I'll do it again soon in a bigger
room. I’m still contacting trekking companies over Paris about
the trekking routes and advertising the porter's health and
respect. I'm working on it with the Honorary Consul for Nepal
in Rouen, France, Dr Didier Benard. We translate each newsletter
in plain text and give to trekkers going to Nepal. I am working
on organising an IPPG non-profit French organisation for fundraising
purposes. Namaste from France
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HONG
KONG Pete Clarke (retiring)
Since my last report we have been involved in a large amount
of fundraising. In the last 12 months, through Island School,
Hong Kong, we have managed to raise US$5500.  With
this added to the US$7000 that we had raised in the previous
12 months or so, it gave us enough to complete the building
of two porter shelters up near Annapurna Base Camp. One is
situated near the entrance to the sanctuary at Deurali and
the other is at Machpuchare Base Camp.
 We
have named one of them “The Wilberforce Hut” after Wilberforce
House at Island School which has led the fundraising and the
other is “The Islanders Hut” after students, ex students,
staff and friends of Island School, who have dipped deep into
their pockets over the last three or four years.  The
huts were built by ACAP (Annapurna Conservation Area Project)
who will look after them. Many thanks to Gehendra Bahadur
Gurung, of ACAP, who oversaw the project and to Prakash Adikhari,
the IPPG rep in Kathmandu, who set the project up.
 The
fund raising activities have included sponsored walks, sponsored
fasts and sponsored silences, cake and pizza sales and, far
closer to my heart, a sponsored beard shave. Yes, I managed
to raise US$3000 in sponsorship to remove the beard that I
have proudly owned since 1975! I have to say that, after my
8 year old daughter completely freaked out, I had no option
but to grow it back again.
In addition to the completion
of the huts, we have managed to buy a satellite phone plus
the necessary accessories for Trish Batchelor. It will be
used at the aid post at Machermo half way up the Gokyo valley,
and our current project is to raise US$5000 towards finishing
the solar panel electricity system that will provide power
at the post and for the oxygen concentrator in particular.
As I write this we are pleased to say that Sir Chris Bonington
has kindly agreed to give up some of his time on his way through
Hong Kong to come into Island School and speak to the staff
and students. I am hoping that his appearance will get the
campaign off to a good start.
By the time the next
newsletter will appear in 2005, I will have left Hong Kong
(after 18 years here) and will have returned to the UK. I
will be stepping down as the HK rep. I am hoping that the
fundraising side at Island School will continue for some time
in the future, but it will be under the auspices of a new
rep. I would like to take this opportunity to say how much
I have enjoyed being involved in IPPG and wish everyone connected
with IPPG well.
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ITALY
Navyo Eller
Welcome to Massimo Pastorelli who will be assisting Navyo.
Various Italian mountain
magazines have reported about IPPG Italy and soon the Italian
mountain magazine "Montagnard" will publish a big article
about IPPG and porter problems in Nepal.
In 2004 we are launching
the IPPG Italy website and more activities, for which some
organizations have already agreed to collaborate. Massimo
will coordinate this work.
Thanks
We would like to thank La rivista della Montagna ("the mountain
magazine"), Alp, La rivista del Trekking (“the trekking magazine")
for their publication of IPPG issues, as well as their promised
commitment for the future projects of IPPG Italy. We also
thank to the online sites for mountain issues: www.mountains.it,
www.inalto.com and www.adagio.it
for similar support.
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NEPAL
Prakash Adhikari
I have started to operate a campaign of ‘personal approach’,
visiting some porter shelters. I found it very interesting.
I talked to over 15 porters on one visit. In one place I found
a porter whose fingers of both legs were frostbitten. It looked
very bad. He has been staying at the hotel over a month in
the hope of getting better. But he was still the same. I feel
he need some medical advice probably further medical treatment.
I also went to another
porter shelter where I talked over 12 porters. They were very
interested. I also found some who had participated in the
IPPG Porter Safety Training workshops. They are really interested
about what I talked to them about. They are also interested
to get more IPPG porter safety training.
This personal approach
is a very good idea for the porter. I think I will continue
this campaign. I am looking for a volunteer who want to help
and get involved in this campaign.
I was able to print the
newsletter and distribute it to travel/trekking agencies and
embassies/consulates in Nepal. There has been a passive attitude
among the tourism industry because of the political problems
in our country.
In the coming year, I
will organize more porter training workshops.
See also the Machermo
Porter Shelter and Rescue Post report in this newsletter.
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NETHERLANDS
Charles Halberstadt
I have been very busy this year with work and family. So I
haven’t done anything special for IPPG, except helping the
Machermo porter rescue post financially.
Plan For 2004
I will publish the article about the death
of a porter in the Rolwaling valley by Jan Leendert Timmer
soon on our website and in 2004 or 2005 there will be a big
HT party again which will also be a fundraiser. I will be
in KTM soon and will visit the KTM offices of IPPG and Porters
Progress.
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NEW
ZEALAND Cheska Hadleigh
All I can manage
to keep going over here is the clothes collection at two outdoor
shops, linking with World Expeditions clients who are travelling
to Kathmandu so they can carry a small amount of the pile
of gear I have in my garage. Both outdoor shops are called:
Bivouac.
Thai Airlines remain
in agreement for travellers on direct flight to have an excess
10kgs World Expeditions in Auckland asks clients about transporting
the clothes and set up this with Thai Airlines. Anyone travelling
to Nepal, East Africa or Peru, who could take some gear, please
contact me. I am looking for some one to take over as IPPG
rep New Zealand.
I would like to acknowledge
the fantastic work been done by people to better the lot of
porters.
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SCANDINAVIA
David Durkan and Lena Fauske
David was trekking in Nepal in the autumn and bumped into
Rejane and Jim Duff on the trail. He was also in Tibet, then
Sikhim, where he noted the IPPG poster on display at the start
of the Kanchenjunga trail. A local village environmental group
has produced a small porters guide with tips and information.
Much of the IPPG material has been used here, but they have
added their own ideas to suit the local requirement. Well
done!
Lena has sent her previously
published article on IPPG to the Norwegian Alpine Club. In
2004 we are planning an IPPG brochure in Norwegian, with additional
tips for trekkers, and to pick where we left off.
Note: Per Nyberg has
now joined the Scandinavian team, becoming IPPG rep for Sweden
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UK
Brad Atwal (Ex)
The UK travel media
focussed heavily on the Everest 50th anniversary celebrations
in 2003. Whilst there was more hype about past and present
Everest summiteers it was encouraging to see that most publications
dedicated page space to the porter issue. IPPG received mentions
in The Big Issue and The Sunday Times’ special Everest 50th
anniversary edition.
During the year I helped
to establish the IPPG e-newsletter. We have around 40 people
so far who have signed up by just visiting the site. This
will be an efficient way to stay in touch in the future and
cut down on mail out of the IPPG newsletter.
The most exciting event
this year though was the lecture to ‘Celebrate the Mountain
Porter’ at the Royal Geographical Society with Ben Ayers and
mountaineer Doug Scott. 300 people attended the evening and
we were able to raise £600 each for Porters Progress (PP)
and Doug’s Community Action Nepal (CAN) as well as £300 for
an orphanage in Nepal. IPPG received some donations via the
event and we were well publicized in Tourism Concern’s newsletter,
Adventure Travel magazine, Outdoorsmagic.com, Geographical
Magazine, Global Magazine, TGO Magazine and Wanderlust Magazine.
Doug also placed the talk in ads that he paid for. Ben
has received some extra funding from individual donors on
the night and he is also writing an article for Geographical
magazine as a result.
In the pipeline a leading
adventure travel company is organising a special fundraising
trek with Ben Ayers as leader/translator set to depart in
October 2004. This is a unique idea developed with Ben’s assistance,
which will hopefully grab the imagination of the public and
media.
A portion of the trip
cost will go to Porters Progress and another portion will
go to the IPPG/CAN Machermo Porter Shelter and Rescue Post.
It has been a great experience
to be part of the IPPG team in the UK but I am moving to the
USA where I will continue my involvement with IPPG.
Thanks
Special thanks go to all the donors. I would also like to
thank Jon Doran from Outdoorsmagic.com
and John Telfer from Explore Worldwide for helping to publicise
the lecture. An even bigger thanks to Gordon Steer at World
Expeditions UK for being so flexible and allowing me to attend
to IPPG duties within his office and for raising funds via
their lectures as well as always placing IPPG flyers at any
events. I would also like to send my best wishes to Jo Chittenden,
former UK IPPG rep, who is recovering from an accident.
Note: Ian Wall is
now the new IPPG UK rep. Ian is a board member of Community
Action Nepal and is responsible for building the Machermo
Porter Shelter and Rescue Post
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SCOTLAND
Jeff Frew
My main involvement has been through my role as CAN trustee
with Ian Wall on the Machermo project. Ian, as we know, is
now taking lead role in this. I went to Nepal on a UK/Nepal
cultural exchange program, although this was CAN initiative
much of the workshop material related to IPPG. I did a slide
show/lecture on main areas of IPPG work/philosophy etc. We
will also be producing a quality leaflet for trekkers going
to Solu Khumbu to educate and make more aware the issues related
to impact of trekking and the issues of sustainability, economics,
and environmental impact. We did this with a group of environmentalists
from National Trust (Scotland), Scottish Natural Heritage,
Mountaineering Council Scotland and East Devon Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty. The aim was to tie-in similar experiences
about environmental issues between Nepal and the UK. A major
discussion point throughout the 3- days of workshops (attended
by all Nepal/CAT/ CAN staff, porters and guides) was the issue
of porter conditions and wages, hence sizeable and official
IPPG input.
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USA
Peter Herrick-Stare, Bernhard Fassl
Activities 2003:
1. Slide shows about porters in the Himalayas
2. Slide show about child porters in Nepal and discussion
of child porter and its medical implications
3. Travel information pamphlets and information sheets available
at the REI shop in Salt Lake City and Patagonia outlet store
in Salt Lake City.
4. Presentation of IPPG during a lecture series about volunteer
organizations at the University of Stanford, California.
Plans for 2004
Return to Nepal in Fall 2004 - follow up on an educational
project in Kusma/Narayanstan: children of porters receiving
basic education/writing/reading skills.
Slide shows for the medical and non medical community in Salt
Lake City.
Continuation of distribution of information sheets at big
travel stores and travel agencies.
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REPS WANTED in
East Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Canada (especially
in the East). And also, in any country where there is none.
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