- AddressG21b, The Pier, Pier Point Road, Cairns QLD 4870 Australia
In the mountain villages of Nepal, opportunities for women are few. Many young girls have little or no education, and marriage at an early age is still common. Take on Nepal and FHC have been working to change this for many years.
As Take on Nepal has grown, we’ve begun hiring young women and girls from Batase — first to work as porters and then as guides, roles that up to now have been seen as exclusively male. For young village girls, early exposure to paid work as porters and the experience of interacting with Western women is an eye opener. It provides them with a glimpse of other possible futures, futures far different from the lives their mothers lived and to the lives they may have thought they were going to live.
As the girls grow up and finish their education, some go on to further study with help from FHC, while others work with us as guides, building on their early experiences and continuing to work with western visitors in more demanding roles.
We’d like to introduce you to a some of the trail blazing women guides of Take on Nepal. These young women are our heavy hitters, and all have a bright future ahead of them. They act as inspirations to many of the younger girls in the village, showing them that it is possible to strive for more than marriage at 14 or 15.
While meeting western student volunteers is great for opening up the wider world to the village girls, there’s no greater inspiration than watching a girl you grew up with improve herself and succeed in life.
Phulmaya has been a guide for Take on Nepal for three years. Initially working part time as she perused her studies in pharmacy, she’s now leading her own trekking and volunteer groups. She’s in training with our top guides, and will soon be leading groups on Everest and Annapurna treks. She is 24 years old, speaks fluent English and loves meeting western visitors.
Phulmaya and Volunteers From Last Year
Tokmaya is Phulmaya’s older sister. She lives in Batase and is responsible for caring for the orphans in the FHC hostel. She works part time as a guide for Take on Nepal, and is famous for leaving the male guides behind, hiking at a ferocious rate while carrying heavy loads.
Tokmaya and Her Mother in Batase
Anjana and her sister Kamala have been working for Take on Nepal since 2015. They grew up in the FHC hostel in Batase with their younger sister Sangita after a family tragedy left them alone. Anjana is 20 years old and has recently completed an Everest trek – the highlight of her year.
Anjana and Phulmaya — on top of the world
Kamala is 18, and started working as a porter for Take on Nepal last year. She’s been in training as a guide since January and loves the work. In her spare time, Kamala is an experienced trail runner, having placed in many recent ultra trail events in Nepal. She has her on eye on Ultra Trail Australia, so remember her name. You may be hearing a lot more about Kamala in coming years.
Kamala Running for Gold
Tara is our youngest guide in training, at 6 years old. What she lacks in years she makes up for in determination and grit. Her role model is her aunt Phulmaya. She loves the few months a year she spends with her cousins in Batase, when she’s not at school in Cairns.
Tara in Training
The trekking industry in Nepal is a male dominated environment. Women guides are unheard of, which is surprising when you consider that a huge proportion of Western trekkers visiting Nepal are women. Spend a few nights staying at various lodges on the trails and you will see that 60% of all trekkers are women, many coming from European countries.
At Take on Nepal, we’re all about empowering women, giving the village girls the opportunities that their brothers have and opening their eyes to the possibilities of a larger world. We are determined to grow our numbers of women guides as we grow as a company. There is no reason that women trekkers travelling to Nepal should not have young women like Phulmaya, Tokmaya, Anjana and Kamala as their guides.
