whew! i've been back for only two weeks, but it seems like it's been a long time. and between getting used to my new job and power outages that are happening about 50% of the time these days, there hasn't been much time for updates.

i am LOVING my new job. i was a bit nervous about doing something that wasn't teaching little kids, but the transition has been really smooth and i'm enjoying it so much. my official title is "education coordinator" because i'll be arranging classes for porters during the low season when they're not climbing the mountain. but it's the high season now, so i'm helping with other aspects of the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project.

i've learned so much over the past few weeks about porters and how they are treated. and while i love working for this organization, sometimes it's hard to watch how people can be taken advantage of so much. i've never climbed Kilimanjaro, or any mountain for that matter, but it's hard to believe how hard the porters work. while the mountain guides and tourists are outfitted in the latest gear, carrying only their backpacks and even sometimes still getting too sick or tired to make it to the top, the porters are carrying the tents, food, water, toilets, etc. all the way up the mountain, usually wearing whatever warm clothes they can piece together, often for very little benefit.

there is a "recommended" minimum wage of $5/day for porters, but not all companies adhere to it. many porters have to pay a bribe to even get on the list to climb. because of the low wages, porters rely on tips from the climbers. however, oftentimes the climbers give the tips for everyone to their guide (kind of like the head person on the trip), who secretly pockets a good chunk of it for himself before dividing it among the porters. the maximum weight porters are supposed to be allowed to carry is 20 kg (44lb) plus their personal belongings, but many end up carrying up to 61 lbs. i could go on and on about how horrible their conditions can be. regardless of the conditions, they will almost always accept work because of the old "bad work is better than no work at all" argument.

the project that i work for loans clothing to porters for free and provides classes in english, money management, and first aid during the off season. they also work with different climbing companies around town to help them improve the working conditions of porters. they have a list of partner companies that's posted on their website that prospective climbers use to choose a company. because "responsible tourism" is becoming quite popular these days, many companies wish to be on the list, so part of my job right now is helping to monitor the actions of these companies by interviewing porters, attending salary payments, etc. it's quite different from anything i've done before, but i'm really loving it.

although I loved the kids at Amani, something that was always sad to me was the difficulty of bringing families out of poverty. unemployment is so prevalent here, so many times it's difficult to find a job even if you have completed school. for the parents of many of the Amani kids who hadn't finished school, finding a job is even harder.

i think that's one of the reasons i have loved this job with the porters so much. because, for them, the road out of poverty for them doesn't seem so impossible. they already have jobs; they just need to be treated fairly while they're doing them. if companies are held accountable for treating their porters properly and paying a fair wage and climbers demand that they do so, the porters can buy food and pay the rent and send their kids to school.

it's also rewarding to act as a voice for the porters who are often too scared to speak for themselves for fear of losing what work they do have. many times the porters are portrayed as these thieving troublemakers, but all of those whom i have talked to seem genuine and hard-working, and they just want to be treated fairly.

i attended a salary payment for one company last week, and one porter was so excited because one of the climbers had taken his picture on the mountain. showing me the picture, he told me his plan--"i'm going to take this home and show this to my children. when they see the hard work that their father is doing so that he can send them to school, they won't mess around with their studies. they'll work hard, and then one day they won't have to do this kind of work to buy food for their families." i would have loved to have seen his wife and children at home that night, gathered around their father and that picture.

these men (and a few women! woohoo girl power) work so hard, and it shouldn't have to be such a huge fight for them to have enough money to put food on the table. there IS enough money to go around, and hopefully between the work of kpap, porters learning to fight for fair treatment themselves, and the leaders of companies realizing that they are helping to build a strong country by treating their porters fairly, the working conditions on kilimanjaro will continue to improve. i am so thankful to be working with the amazing people at kpap and the thousands of kilimanjaro porters.