On our first exploratory visit to Besisahar, just a few weeks ago, we'd
noticed some activity by the river. The monsoon was nearly over but heavy rain
had fallen over several days causing devastation in districts further west. We
could hear the river from our accommodation but the valley sides obscured the
view and we wanted a look. The path to the steel pedestrian suspension bridge
wove down the wooded slope. Our first crossing of the Marsyangdi river was
awesome. After taking a few shots of the boiling torrent that lay below we
moved on, but not before noticing a few small figures working on the banks upstream. Could they
be crazy enough to be washing clothes in the fast flowing, silt loaded water or
were they up to something else?
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Jude and Ann a fellow volunteer check the effects of recent
rain from the safety of the bridge. |
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| Monsoon rains swell the Marsyangdi river |
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| What is going on up river? |
Now a few weeks later we were back to stay in the town and were keen to find
out more of what we had seen. The pictures tell the story for themselves.
What we thought were people risking life and limb to wash clothes in the fast
flowing waters were actually women dredging for sand. Families carry out the work on defined areas of bank, and do s throughout the year. The process involves them
wading chest deep in water whilst pulling a scoop like tool along the river bed.
Wet sand is carried to the shore in baskets where it is stacked and later reloaded
to be carried several hundred meters up the banks. Here it will be reloaded,
again by hand, onto tractors and trailers.
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| Women carry baskets of sand to the stacks. |
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| Women load and carry with a smile and dignity. |
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| This 17 year old shows how it is done. |
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| The final heave to lift the basket |
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| Huge effort to make the lift |
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| Carrying the sand is not enough lets help the children across slippery stones |
Like most of what we witness gender is no bar to this heavy work, which is
difficult enough for men, but clearly not impossible for women.
Words fail when attempting to describe the physical and mental strength
needed to perform this job, ‘harek din’, every day. Try carrying a bucket of
wet sand a few hundred meters, without putting it down for rest. That should
confirm wet sand is very heavy and a basket full must be in excess of 60kgs. The
method of carrying, using a head strap, is seen throughout Nepal. Having arms
free to help balance or use a stick must be one advantage of the method, but
putting the weight down seems not to be an option since getting going again
requires such effort. The final torture is wearing flip flops!
A trailer load of sand which takes 2 people, two and a half days to collect,
is worth about 2500 rupees. That’s £15.60p. Another cog in our understanding
the ‘context’ drops into place.
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Eager to make a fool of myself I give carrying a bag of rice
Nepali style a go. The boys struggle to hold back laughter and the dog
rolls its eyes. A basket of sand would be well beyond me! |
What amazing effort I'm very very impressed. One thing we have always known about the Nepalese is there ability to carry such large weights. Great to see such great photos.
ReplyDeleteWhat's stopping you, Simon? Now you've got the carrying technique sorted, 60kg of sand should be a doddle! Great photos and text again.
ReplyDeleteThe ladies even manage to beam for the Westerner behind the camera despite the gruelling work...
ReplyDeleteHi Sir Clive
ReplyDeleteSince being in Nepal I have discovered quite a few positives arise out of photography. The first is that our photographs are not taken without the consent of the subject, unless the subject is completely unrecognisable as an individual, say as part of a crowd. By asking people if it's ok they become engaged with the process and usually stand statue like, until after a little more engagement a more relaxed situation arises. The results of the digital photography are always show and the reaction without exception is pleasure on the part of the subject and the crowd that sometimes gathers!
Why do people like to have their image taken? I am no expert on the subject, as you maybe, but if you've ever had to do repeated days of hard toil, and I have some experience of this through my farming career, an activity like this breaks the tedium of the toil and for a few moments lets the mind wander onto some other thoughts aside from how to get through the next few hours of hard labour. Photos are rarely taken without verbal exchange. Asking permission is done via a slight sideways nod of the head but verbal exchange comes later. Through these words we learn more, you learn more via the blog, and the subject is able express feelings which may not always be frustration but may also be pride, or love of a tradition.
I could go on but will not. In my short time here I've seen many things I would not photograph for many reasons. I feel that these images illustrate a way of life that is worth recording and trying to understand as one small part of the cultural diversity here. Having a grasp of the context in which we work will help with responding to the 'needs' identified by the local communities. This is all part of sustainability.
Thank you Clive for the interchange. Please stay in contact.