Note that the Indiegogo Fundraiser platform has closed the donation page but we continue to receive donations to sponsor the first Nepali female guide to complete the Great Himalaya Trail. 

To become an official sponsor, send us an email via theportervoice@gmail.com and also check out our GHT Campaign page for more details.

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The Great Himalaya Trail Women Leaders on the Trail Campaign (GHT Women Leaders) is about a team of women who aspire to trek Nepal's Great Himalaya Trail, the longest high altitude trek in the world, from east to west over a period of 140 days which will be led by the FIRST Nepali female guide to walk it for that length of time.

Our campaign aims to center the voices of Nepali female guides and mountain expedition workers and elevate their status and roles in Nepal's trekking tourism industry.

 

 

The GHT Women Leaders Campaign aims to raise awareness about the situation of female guides and porters in the mountain tourism industry in Nepal. The goal is to trek the entirety of the Great Himalaya Trail (approximately 1700 kilometers) in Nepal with a team of local female guides in the spring of 2024. This campaign provides the opportunity for women to gain valuable working experience but also aims to contradict social biases as we raise awareness about the gender and workforce inequalities inherent within the industry.

Our hope is that this campaign will elevate women’s roles in mountain jobs worldwide and prove that they are as capable as anyone else in the mountains. 

We do recognize that simply bringing women into a male dominated industry is not the solution. We need more women but we also need to ensure that the working conditions are safe and equitable. Hence, we wish to highlight the importance of creating a sustainable tourism industry in support of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals 5 (Gender Equity), 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth), and 10 (Reduced Inequalities). After all, without guides (and porters), there is no trekking industry that can exist as we know it today in Nepal and elsewhere.

Read below to learn more.

THERE'S NO SUSTAINABLE TOURISM WITHOUT WORKFORCE EQUITY

Photo by Sara Frenning

Tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in Nepal. Its initiation was a result of the long-awaited summit of mount Chomolungma (Everest) by Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand’s Edmund Hillary in 1953. The reach of the 8843m peak, the highest point on earth, and the stories that followed put Nepal on the map for adventurers and tourists alike. Although Tenzing and Edmund reached the summit together, there was a clear asymmetry in how they were celebrated. Locally, Tenzing was a hero but internationally he was less recognized. This asymmetry in representation and recognition has been an ongoing depiction of Nepal’s mountain tourism industry ever since. 

Every year, thousands of tourists come to enjoy what Nepal has to offer. Some come to climb peaks while others come to enjoy hiking on the trails. Regardless, any type of tourism would be impossible without the help and hard work of the local people. Yet, the hazardous and difficult work they do is rarely recognized by tourists and the international media.

Many guides we have interviewed share a sense of feeling overlooked or disrespected. One female trekking guide shared with us that she wishes that guides in Nepal are treated like their equivalents in Europe and the U.S. 

“In the US guides are treated like superheroes […] we are more treated like a slave or an animal.” 

Photo by Joel Gugler

Tourism has undoubtedly created working opportunities for the locals in Nepal, but the working conditions and risks these jobs entail spark a debate on the morality and equity of the mountain tourism industry altogether. It is not enough that tourism creates job opportunities – the jobs need to be humane and fairly compensated. Unfortunately, today, tourists’ endeavors and dreams are being prioritized above workers’ rights and equity. Local populations are taking on high-risk and back-breaking jobs for a salary that does not reflect their efforts or importance to the industry. The locals' vulnerable economic and social situation lends itself to exploitation and many take on these hazardous jobs due to a lack of other options.

Photo by Joel Gugler

Nepal’s mountain tourism industry is one of Nepal’s most important and economically significant industries, yet it fails to protect the people who are making it possible. Without a minimum wage or enforced maximum load regulations, porters routinely carry over 30 kilos and are often without proper equipment. Guides work 24/7 and assume high risks to keep their clients safe, especially in the high mountains. The insurance, salary, and safety of guides and porters are left in the hands of tour agencies that have little to no regulation for how to equitably conduct their business or treat their workers. As a result, many guides and porters are underpaid and without proper insurance or equipment. Their often-pressed economic situation makes it difficult for workers to advocate for their rights and working conditions. 

Today, trekkers with varying skill levels find their way up the mountains. Even those without real mountain experience can travel to high altitudes by hiring skilled guides and porters. With less experienced tourists come higher risks for guides and porters as they are forced to make up for the lack of experience of their clients. Of those dying on the mountain, one-third are local workers. No other industry so frequently kills its employees for the benefit of paying customers.

EQUITY AND INCLUSION REQUIRE ELEVATING THE ROLES AND VOICES OF FEMALE GUIDES & PORTERS

Working in the mountains is still seen as a male-dominated job and many females do not feel comfortable taking on the job due to societal pressure. Even if the immediate family supports those we have interviewed, the neighborhood or community often poses barriers. 

“When you are a child, you always hear that you need to be in the kitchen and that limits you from the beginning. In your mind, you internalize this and question your own ability. The mind is still stuck in those ideas even if we live in a more modern society now.” 

                                                                                         - Female trekking guide 

Photo by Sara Frenning

Many women are questioned and dismissed for wanting to work in the mountains. Hence, It is common for them to feel pressured to work harder than their male counterparts as a way to prove themselves in an industry that is less trusting of women’s ability to work.

Manu Rai, a female trekking guide comments, “Females have to be mentally and physically stronger than males…mentally and physically strong, no matter what. That is a challenging thing.” 

These barriers and challenges are ongoing as many female mountain expedition workers report instances of sexual harassment, lack of safety, and being dominated or controlled by men. These concerns faced by women in the industry are further compounded by the lack of equitable and fair working conditions that guides and porters face in the industry in general. Female porters especially find themselves in a disempowering and precarious situation as they have no leverage to negotiate fair salaries, the excess bag weight that they are tasked to carry, the lack of privacy and safety on the trail, among a number of other unfair labor practices that are inherent within the industry.

Although local women who aspire to become guides are able to access classroom training to get certified, some of which are free of charge (for example, Nepal Mountain Academy and Everest Women Treks amongst others), the crux of the problem lies in the traditional and cultural roles and expectations that are imposed upon women, the biases and prejudices against them, and the gender discrimination that is prevalent in hiring for the position of porters guides. Our field research shows that Nepal is NOT lacking QUALIFIED female guides. The problem has more to do with women NOT GETTING HIRED by virtue of being a woman.

As Gauri Malakar, Program Coordinator at Global Inclusive Adventure Nepal, and a trekking guide, notes:  “Training is important, but getting the job is the real question. Even if you say that you can work for free as an assistant guide, they won’t let you because if they take us [females], there will be a male missing an opportunity, and the males won’t allow it.”

She adds, “There are very few organizations who ask females to lead treks. Trekking agencies are not very confident about females, and maybe they don’t want to take a chance and risk getting comments from clients.” 

The GHT Women Leaders campaign aims to deconstruct the biases against women and their roles as guides and to create the opportunity for them to get the on-the-job training that they struggle to receive in the industry because of discrimination and societal prejudices that prevent them from accessing jobs.

OUR CAMPAIGN ADVANCES THE MISSION OF THE PORTER VOICE COLLECTIVE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LIFETREK

The Porter Voice Collective (PVC), a non-profit human rights platform based in the U.S., has launched the GHT Women Leaders Campaign as a way to advance its mission. PVC was born out of the desire to listen to, celebrate, amplify and elevate the voices of the porters in the trekking tourism industry worldwide with a focus on Peru’s Inca Trail, Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro, and Nepal’s Himalayan Region. PVC aims to bridge the gap of knowledge between tourists that walk the mountain trails and the men and women who are the core foundation of the trekking tourism industry. 

The GHT Women Leaders Campaign will focus on 3 main areas: Gender Equity, Workforce Equity, and Sustainability.  By creating access to training and real opportunities for women, we hope to promote gender equity in the industry, but we will not stop there. Through our campaign, we hope to inform the general public about the inherent inequalities tourism stands on and raise awareness about the importance of Workforce Equity to truly achieve a sustainable trekking tourism industry. 

In 2019, PVC launched a successful campaign to raise funds for the film documentary, KM 82 - The Porter Voices on Peru's Camino Inca, which is a film that centers the voices of Inca Trail porters as they fight for their rights be treated fairly and humanely in Peru's trekking industry.  The award-winning film is now being screened in select film festivals and via private screenings.

In light of PVC’s mission to elevate local communities, we are partnering with LifeTrek, a female founded organization in Nepal. LifeTrek aims to address Nepal's patriarchal society and create opportunities for women to be independent and to work in the outdoor industry. LifeTrek helps young girls and women by giving them outdoor skill training, guiding them to be self-supported, and building their confidence.

The mission of LifeTrek is to give complete training in outdoor adventure for women so they can overcome the barriers in a conservative society by doing something they love. After training, they will work in the outdoor business as a guide. Those skills will help them to feel secure and independent. They will also motivate more women to be self-empowered in the future.

 

THE GREAT HIMALAYA TRAIL AS OUR PLATFORM FOR CHANGE

The Great Himalaya Trail, GHT for short, is a spectacular challenge that not many know of. Nepal has three main trekking regions: Everest, Annapurna, and Langtang. These three share the majority of tourism and recognition. But there is so much more to see in Nepal than just those regions. The GHT pays homage to the part of Nepal that is often left unseen as it spans from east to west, crossing Nepal lengthwise. The GHT surpasses Nepal’s borders and includes sections in Bhutan and India, but for our GHT Women Leaders campaign, we are focusing on the 1700-kilometer-long section of the trail in Nepal. We aim to complete the GHT in 140 days, hiking from east to west beginning in February 2024.

Source: www.thegreathimalayatrail.com

The reason we chose GHT as the platform for our campaign can be summarized eloquently by noting the comment by one of the local female guides in Nepal:

 

“If a female guide does the GHT, even guides it, there is nothing she can’t do.”

Women face discrimination and prejudice as mountain expedition workers. We hope that through trekking the GHT, we can empower women, give them invaluable work and field experience that will lead to jobs, and raise awareness about the workforce issues in the industry.

CAMPAIGN BUDGET

The funds from this campaign will be allocated towards hiring female guide(s) to do the GHT trek as part of their field training in order for them to gain valuable work experience. The number of female guides will depend on the amount we raise. We envision at least one female Nepali guide committing to the completion of the entire 140 days trek of the GHT with a potential for one or more guide to join us if we are able to get more funds beyond the initial funding goal. The estimated cost to get the female guide trained on the GHT for this length of time is $11,000. If we get more funds, we can hire a second guide to trek the same length or some of the sections as field training.

The funds will go toward the guide's field training expenses, safety equipment & gear, insurance, transport, food and lodging for the entire duration of the GHT trek, as well as, administrative/operational expenses to run the entire program. The guide will receive field training stipend/compensation as well while on the trek. The cost also covers fundraiser platform and administrative fees to run the campaign.

Your support and contribution will have the following impact:

CREATE ACCESS to jobs/field training on the trail for women.

ELEVATE the voices and relevance of female guides and porters in the trekking tourism industry.

EDUCATE tourists and tourism organizations/professionals about the Gender & Workforce Equity issues in the trekking industry.

Other ways you can help

Corporate sponsorships and in-kind donations of gear for the team - learn more via the Sponsorship Pitch Deck. Send us an email at theportervoice@gmail.com to receive our GHT Women Leaders Sponsorship  Pitch Dick.

Write about the GHT Women Leaders campaign in the media or if you have other ideas for collaborations, contact us via the same email above. 

JOIN OUR GROWING NUMBER OF SPONSORS/SUPPORTERS

 

WHO WE ARE

THE GHT WOMEN LEADERS

Four women aspire to complete the GHT in 140 days:

Marinel de Jesus, Filipina American, PVC Founder & Campaign Manager

Mingmar Dolma Sherpa, Nepali Trekking Guide

Sumitra Acharya, Nepali Trekking Guide

Sara Frenning, Iranian Swedish, PVC Researcher & Program Coordinator

In the upcoming months, PVC and our local partners will be interviewing potential female guides for the campaign. We will announce the final team members later this year. You can hear from the women directly via this video.

 

THE ORGANIZERS

MARINEL M. DE JESUS, ESQ.

PVC FOUNDER & CAMPAIGN MANAGER - GLOBAL

I'm a former human rights lawyer from Washington, DC who turned my passion for hiking into a full-time endeavor as a social entrepreneur, solutions-focused journalist, and speaker. I’m the founder of the award-winning media platform, Brown Gal Trekker, and mountain trekking enterprise, Equity Global Treks, both of which aim to elevate the status and roles of women and indigenous communities in the outdoor and travel industries. Born and raised in the Philippines, I moved to the U.S. at the age of 13. Currently, I’m a full-time global mountain nomad which allows me to travel to mountain destinations regularly to explore adventure tourism initiatives that are community-led and/or focused on female leadership in the industry.

As a woman of color who works in the trekking tourism industry, this campaign matters to me in order for women to feel seen, welcomed, and valued in the industry. Equity and inclusion are fundamental in the creation of a sustainable mountain tourism industry. Elevating the female guides and porters of Nepal will elevate all women irrespective of where they come from and the roles they play in an industry that is rooted in patriarchy and colonialism.

ANU SHRESTA

LIFETREK FOUNDER & CAMPAIGN MANAGER - NEPAL

Namaste. I started my journey in tourism from the ground up and established myself as a rafting and trekking guide for over 16 years. I have learned a lot, but I need more female participation in the trekking and rafting industries. Unfortunately, the visibility of female guides and porters is minimal. Our patriarchal society makes it difficult for women to be a part of the outdoors. Therefore, I always think about how I can support and inspire women to pursue their dreams, which is why I started the women's project through LifeTrek.

Through a partnership with this campaign, I can support our sisters and change social norms. I'm grateful to be a part of the GHT Women Leaders Campaign and to support its mission. Together, we can elevate our sisters and promote more significant opportunities for them. As I continue to guide the mountains, I will always stand by our sisters and speak up for them.

 

GAURI MALAKAR

CAMPAIGN ADVISOR (GLOBAL INCLUSIVE ADVENTURE)

I have been working in the tourism industry for over 15 years. As a licensed trekking guide and a trainer for Sustainable Tourism Development, I have first-hand experience in the industry and can attest to the importance of empowering women in leadership roles.

The GHT Women Leaders Campaign is important for promoting gender equality and empowering women in the tourism industry. By providing women with the necessary skills and resources, the campaign helps to break down gender barriers and create more opportunities for women in the industry. By supporting this campaign, we can all help to promote sustainable tourism and social development activities in Nepal and contribute to a better future for all through collaboration and sustainable practices.

SARA FRENNING

PVC FIELD RESEARCHER &  CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR

 I was introduced to the Porter Voice Collective through an internship during my Master’s Program at Lund’s University in Human Ecology. I instantly felt connected to the cause as it intertwined with my studies, my passion for the outdoors, and my personal experiences of being "othered" in the outdoor industry. 

While being a full-time student takes up most of my time, I always make sure to make time for nature. I’m a lover of the outdoors and have many long-distance hikes and bike-packing trips under my belt. I’m the happiest when I get to travel through nature powered by my own body. I believe the outdoors are for everybody, and I believe that everybody should feel safe while enjoying the outdoors. Being a solo female traveler, I’m all too familiar with the aspects that can make women feel unsafe while traveling. Therefore, being a part of this GHT Women Leaders Campaign feels particularly meaningful to me.

 

PEMA T. SHERPA

GHT LOGISTICS COORDINATOR

I was born in Solukhumbu (the Everest region) and I have been working in the trekking industry my whole life. When my friend Robin Boustead (who created the Great Himalaya Trail website) asked me to go trekking across Nepal, I had no idea we would finish and create the Great Himalaya Trail. Now many years later, I have been organizing for many GHTers. This means I'm always in contact with people in the mountains. In many of the villages, I often talk to women to organize food and supplies and they always tell me that they are happy to see female guides in their regions. Our female guides are always more respectful and considerate toward the locals. This is why I want to train more female guides in the future.

ARE YOU READY TO TAKE THIS JOURNEY WITH US TOWARDS BETTERING THE OUTDOOR & TRAVEL INDUSTRY? 

Donate, sponsor, spread the word and support us to make this GHT 140 days trek a reality for women.

 

Wish to learn more? Check out the podcast interview about our campaign via  Altruistic  Traveller and view the Webinar recording - WOMEN WHO LEAD: Breaking Barriers as Guides & Porters in Nepal.