New Peru Porter Group Needs Help

The Inca Trail is one of the world's great treks finishing at the dramatic 'lost ' Inca city of Machu Picchu, but there's an ugly side to it as well.

The locals employed as porters on the trail endure low pay and work in arduous conditions. Often they have no waterproof clothing or emergency equipment, heavy loads are carried simply roped onto their backs which cuts off the bloody supply and many working for organised tour groups, don't get enough food to sustain them.

When we trekked the Trail six years ago, we saw young porters wearing sandals made from old car tyres, struggling with huge loads using primitive carrying systems and things haven't improved.

The Inka Porter Project - Porteadores Inka Ñan - is a new initiative aimed at improving the lot of Peruvian porters on the Inca Trail. Set up by Alison Crowther, who travelled to Peru in 2002 after raising £500 to give directly to a charity working with porters, the organisation is still in its formative stages and is desperate for help, particularly in terms of equipment.

They need mattresses, sleeping bags, 3-person tents, durable waterproof ponchos and head lamps that can take rechargeable batteries as well as longterm, Spanish-speaking volunteers.

There are full details of PIN together with contact information on the project's web site and we're also looking into ways that OM may be able to help directly.