Porters’ Clothing Bank
In 1997 a young Nepali porter employed by a trekking company became severely ill with altitude sickness. He was paid off and sent down the mountain alone. It took just 30 hours for him to die. He was 20 years old and left behind a wife and two small children.
In September 2009 KEEP set up the Porters’ Clothing Bank (PCB) at our head office in Thamel, Kathmandu to provide ill-prepared porters with better clothing suitable for trekking in a mountain environment and reduce the number of unnecessary illnesses and fatalities which occur each year.
The PCB also educates tourists, trekking agencies and porters alike about the acceptable standard of treatment for porters and the need to improve porter access to appropriate clothing and equipment.
Porters play a vital role in the tourism industry enabling tourists to visit Nepal’s most picturesque and difficult terrain. The majority are subsistence farmers who travel from lower areas of Nepal to the higher elevated trekking routes to find employment.
Contrary to the belief that porters are well-adjusted to the cold and altitude of the Himalayas, every year many porters suffer from a variety of illnesses such as altitude sickness, snow blindness, hypothermia and frostbite and some even die as a result.
Many porters are uneducated about the risks of high-altitude trekking and lack the basic equipment needed. If porters do become ill in the mountains they are often denied adequate medical attention and are instead paid-off to travel down alone to face the problem of finding and affording emergency treatment.
How you can help
We always appreciate any contribution you can make to the Porters’ Clothing Bank.
Financial donations are greatly appreciated and are preferred to donations of clothing as we can then purchase new clothing in Nepal and cover the costs of repair and replacement of items.
Please make payments via wire transfer to KEEP’s offices in Nepal or the UK, indicating in the payment reference that you are donating to the PCB.
KEEP Nepal
Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal
Account number:01-0140872-51
SWIFT CODE: SCBLNPKA
KEEP UK
Account name: Trekking Encounters Ltd.
NatWest Bank, Dundee, Scotland
Sort code: 60-24-75
Account no: 16568044
Donate used clothing
Usually donations of used jackets and trousers/pants from Westerners do not fit Nepali porters who tend to be smaller.
However donations of other clothing items such as socks, boots, sunglasses, warm gloves and sleeping bags are always welcome.
Please bring your donations in person or send them to KEEP’s office in Thamel for the attention of Mr. Ngima Pakhrin.
Project partners
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the supporters of the Porters’ Clothing Bank project including:
Special thanks to Dr. Jim Duff
International Porters Protection Group
International Mountain Explorer Connection
Community Action Nepal
Intrepid Travel
Mountain Kingdom UK
Porters’ Progress UK
The Mountain Fund
Trekking Encounters Ltd.
World Expedition
Ramesh Dhamala
Karen Valenti
Elsie James
Scott McLenan
Ian Wall
Nick & Emma Mason