Kuragraphy of Names and Naming Practices in Nepal

"Brother! Look at the tree. There are lots of euros on the tree. How much can that be yours, But you have to be a monkey." The agent makes a joke to motivate his workers in the field. It was the hot summer day of June 2021, and I was starting an ethnography on immigrant agriculture workers in the Algarve. Following the job seeking procedure, I found a contact for the agent (Nepali), and he promised me to manage an orange picking work and living space.

field work, 2021, Algarve.

In this essay, I will describe my loyal experience working as an orange picker in Algarve. I took a bus from Lisbon to Tavira. Someone was already there to pick me up at the bus stop. There were two options: the first is bedsharing with the other three people, and the other is a small cosy kitchen store where I can put a single bed. I decided to live in the kitchen store for privacy.

The next morning, the workers prepared the lunch box from last night. At 6.10 am, a van arrived at the gate to pick up the workers, and after 15 minutes of driving, the van arrived at a large orange farm. I used to call that "the orange valley."

The workers have to wear full-sleeved thick clothes, a hat or P-cap, and safety shoes to protect from the sharp nails on the orange trees. Dust, flies, and chemicals may cause frequent sneezing and skin allergies for the workers. Wearing thick clothes has strategic meaning; when the inner clothes are wet with sweat, it will keep the body cool.

The supervisor oriented the new workers about duty and rules, providing tools and safety items such as a sack, a pair of leather gloves, scissors, and a ladder. The orange picking work is easier to perform with a team of two workers. I was assigned to work with a boy who had been working for the last two weeks. He was familiar with the working environment and the strategic games of the field, i.e., the arrangement of the empty ballets, fast-picking tactics, and maintaining the quality and level of filling the ballets. The first day, our team completed 12 ballets full of oranges, which counted as 6 ballets for each. Despite the physical discomfort and having short breath, I keep the morals of the other workers. If they can do it, then why not me?

Experienced workers could fill up to 14 ballets in 8 hours, depending on the production and size of the oranges. The amount of work depends on the company's demand order for the day, and the number of ballets is equally divided among the workers. I have experience doing only two ballets in a day, which means I earned 13 euros in a day in the off-season. Orange picking is physical hard work like climbing trees or ladders, picking fruit, and filling up the ballet. Carrying a sack full of oranges, 20–25 kg, on the shoulder and climbing ladders or swinging branches sometimes causes an accident to fall down.

The majority of the workers working under the agent were new immigrants who may not have enough documents to find a contract job, and other workers came for the extra work during their weekly days off and holidays. There were multinational workers: Bulgarian (boss and supervisor), Portuguese, Ukrainian, Bangladeshi, Indian, and Nepali. Asian workers are more competitive, while European workers are more relaxed. "Asian maccaco..." is frequently used as a joke by European co-workers to refer to Asians. Language was the main barrier between South Asian and European workers having a conversation.

Lunch breaks are usually at noon for one hour, but that is not mandatory. Workers have to have their lunch seating under the tree shadow, and I didn't notice there was a toilet; going in the area of work done was the common practice there. Payment is based on counting completed ballets; varieties of fruits may vary the rate of payment. In 2021, agents offered different rates for Laranga Valência (6.50 euros), Mandarina (15 euros), Limão (8.50 euros per ballet), and Lemon Picking is Parallel Work with the hourly pay (5 euros per hour).

*. The text was published on the 28th of September (publico.pt). You can find it here: https://www.publico.pt/2024/09/28/opiniao/opiniao/macacos-estao-colher-euros-arvore-2105831