Issues

The “super human” qualities of porters were highlighted in an academic article published in the journal Science in 2005. Authored by physiologist Norman Heglund and his colleagues from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, the article provoked considerable interest in the media.

What follows is our response (summarized) to this article.

“As an NGO working for the benefit of mountain porters in the trekking industry worldwide, we would like to comment on the recent research by Belgian scientists* that has sparked worldwide media interest.

The researchers showed that Nepalese porters carrying for local merchants (mainly servicing the trekking industry) were very efficient compared to westerners at moving heavy weights up and down steep hills at high altitude on rough trails. The scientists were unable to elucidate any physiological mechanism that provided an advantage to their subjects, but pointed out that they carried the load slowly and for short distances. When you think about carrying a load equal to your body mass or more then this makes sense. What these porters are performing is a serial weight lifting event demanding a high degree of strength, concentration and determination. 

You cannot carry this kind of weight very far but you can carry it. You must not trip or stagger or you can tear a vital muscle, or even break your neck. You are breathing thinner air and take most of the weight on your back in a crouch with the load steadied by a tumpline round your forehead. It is backbreaking and grueling work.

The media have seized on the 'superhuman' qualities of porters, which belies the fact that none of them want to carry such mind boggling weights: they do it to survive. The commercial porters studied carry more and are paid less than porters that work directly for trekkers.. While our efforts have been to improve the working conditions of trekking porters who carry lighter but to higher altitudes with a greater risk of death, it has been our hope that the gradual development of Nepal will improve the lot of all porters.

The reason these men and women resort to load carrying is the necessity of feeding themselves and their family in one of the world's poorest nations. The reason why they carry these extreme loads is exploitation by their fellow nationals.

Our role as tourists purchasing their muscles, sweat and suffering is not to be party to this exploitation. Instead we should be lightening loads, thus increasing the number of jobs and improving safety. It is for this reason that the IPPG has been working for almost a decade to inform trekkers about the conditions that porters endure while facilitating their holiday. Our aim is to encourage people to go trekking, as it is by far and away the best form of aid, but trekkers must insist on ethical treatment for their porters.”