Organisers say that porters are often treated appallingly by tour companies with as many as ten sometimes forced to sleep in tents designed for four tourists — often without sleeping bags or ground mats.

Many have the correct clothes to cope with freezing, high-altitude conditions only if they have been donated by tourists. They often lack insurance and proper medical cover, and are forced to carry backbreaking loads of 50kg (7st 10lb) or more, they say.

Joseph Nyabasi, of the Kilimanjaro Guides and Porters Union, said: “The aim of the march, on February 28, is to alert tour operators and the community around us to the problems that porters are facing on Kilimanjaro and elsewhere, and what needs to be done to end exploitation.”

In 2003, two porters died on the popular Marangu trekking route. This followed other porters’ deaths on the 5,895m (19,340ft) mountain in 2002, from exposure or exhaustion. More than 25,000 people try to climb the mountain every year.

The march is being supported by the UK-based charity Tourism Concern, which has run a “Trekking Wrongs: Porters Rights” campaign for several years. A spokeswoman said: “The Kilimanjaro Porters’ Union wants to share the message that conditions for porters must meet basic human rights. Our website shows that 43 UK operators have signed up to our international guidelines for employing porters, but 37 have not. We are puzzled why they are opposed to such improvements.”

Last autumn, the charity International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) started work on a new medical post and shelter at Machermo in Nepal. Previously porters were forced to sleep in caves.

WILL HIDE

Details: www.kilimanjaro-union.com

www.ippg.net

www.tourismconcern.org.uk

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