Kuragraphy of Names and Naming Practices in Nepal

October 16, 2021

It was a day off, and I woke up late in the morning. After a tea, I checked messages, emails, and social media sites for news updates. I washed clothes by hand because there is no facility for the washing machine; there is one coin-operated machine that is out of function. In the evening, I went to visit friends and shop for groceries.

When I was writing a day diary in the evening, the day was normal and it was a day off, so I didn't have to write anything about work, so I decided to write something summarising my experiences as a migrant agricultural worker in the Algarve for 100 days.

July 18, 2021, 3.15 p.m. I get the bus to Tavira from Lisbon. After a long search for a job in agriculture, it was possible to contact a worker supplier agent in Tavira. One of the family's friends recommended the agent and gave them the phone number. I was both excited to begin fieldwork and a little nervous about the new settlement.

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I called the agent when I got on the bus. He told me, "You don't have to worry about it; I'll send someone to pick you up at the bus park." That made the trip more comfortable, and I enjoyed it.

It took about 4.30 hours to get to Tavira by public bus, and there were two guys (one Indian and the other Nepali) waiting for me at the bus stop.It took about 20 minutes to reach the agent's house. He was able to find me a room to live in.There were two options: a shared room or a small, cosy single room.I prefer a cosy room because I will be living alone and will not be disturbed by others.

I started work the next day; that was an orange picking job. We had prepared our day meal in the tiffin box the previous evening. I woke up at 5.30 am, freshened up, drank a coffee, and was then ready to leave for the work. The company vehicles arrived at the gate at 6.30 a.m. It took 20 minutes to drive to the big orange farm. It was the orange kingdom or universe; there was nothing but orange trees up to the point where we could see them with our own eyes. 

The supervisor gave me a pair of leather gloves, a scissor, and a sack. They teach how to pick up the fruit. The full sack weighs about 15-20 kg, which we must carry on our shoulders from tree to bell.

Working in direct sunlight in an open field, carrying the load on the shoulder, and saving the body with tree nails and dust is a physically demanding job.Work is paid based on the amount of work completed by the workers.There was a lunch break at 1.00 pm, but it is not mandatory; if someone feels hungry earlier, they can eat or they can keep continuing their work.

The pickers were Portuguese, Nepali, Indian, and Bangladeshi, and the company was owned by a Bulgarian.The supervisor lady has been working on the orange field for two decades. Nepali and Indian pickers have been working there for at least two years. Workers prefer the orange picking job because the job counts by the amount of picking they have done, and there is not much pressure from the supervisor besides quality picking.

The orange picking job pays between 6.50 and 15 euros depending on the fruit—Valencia (big orange), big Lemon, Mandarina, and Orange—ballets count, and green lemons are paid by the hour—5 euros per hour. 

My next assignment was to pick alfalfa.Alfarroba is a seasonal product generally grown by small landholders. One of the landholders had more production of the Alfarroba; I worked for 24 days and other friends worked for 29 days. The picking of Alfarroba is an hourly job (5 euros per hour).

Generally, Portuguese smallholders don't have enough workers in the household. Most of the farms are run by senior citizens; they do not have the support of the new generation. The smallholders use this method to contact the migrant agents,

who can supply workers as per their needs. They prefer that the workers who can communicate, or at least one of them who can speak or understand the Portuguese language, be easier to order in the work field.

Almond picking is a much easier job than orange picking. The job has been divided into two parts: the first party has to lower the Alfaroba to the ground from the trees with a stick, and the second party has to pick it up from the ground and put it in the sack. The normal rate for picking Alfarroba is 5 euros per hour. 

I worked for the garbage collection company for two weeks, where I had to manage the garbage. The workers were mostly Portuguese, with one Angolan and two newly appointed Nepalis, including me. The payment was hourly, with 8 hours as a day count. If there is overtime, they pay the cash in hand.

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After 90 days, I have joined the raspberry picking job. It was possible with the friends' networks I had developed there in 3 months and having a Portuguese residency card.

The new experience of working in the estufa (greenhouse)  and living in the container which is important for my study—to experience the living conditions of the migrant labour in the container.

Raspberry picking was my first experience; it takes about 15 days to maintain the minimum average fruit picking. Although the minimum average was not strictly maintained, supervisors sometimes put pressure on workers to maintain it and produce more effectively.It was the picking season for the raspberry production, and I worked more than 8 hours a day, up to 10 hours a day.

There is a Portuguese domain in the administrative work, and the field workers are Portuguese, Romanian, Bangladeshi, Indian, and Nepali. In the field, because of the three Nepali field supervisors, Nepali workers have more or less dominance.

Two kitchens, two bathrooms, toilets, and a dining hall are among the eight living containers.There is a maximum of three people assigned to live in a container (8 * 3 = 24), there is no washing machine for laundry, frequently fused electricity (one has to go to Armagiam to up it), running for hot water after work, poor wifi connection, and no network coverage in the mobile are all common experiences.

Thank you.