Kargadores

In Caticlan, a town in the Philippines which is the point of origin to get to the touristic island Boracay, I got to know a family, who make their income as “Kargadores”.During my three day stay with this family, I accompanied them to their place of work. They delivered goods to the island Boracay, which most tourists take for granted. The boats were always incredibly full that only 5-10 cm of the boat floated above the water.Each wave brought more water into the boat and this in turn made all the boxes wet. When we were faced with heavier tropical rain , my feet were completely covered with water. It made me realise how dangerous it is to work as a Kargadores and to constantly be faced with such ordeals. As a result of all the heavy rain, the boats were bound together, so they would stay close to each other, giving them safeness not to go under. Although, i saw the people on the boat still smiling, I could feel the danger they were faced with.I was talking to the boys, who were perhaps only 13-16 years old. They said, that they were proud to earn their own money. When I asked them if they were at school, they didn’t answer, or said that not every one of their family can go afford to go school.
I could see that the boys were very proud to earn their own money but at the same time I could also see the complete exhaustion in their eyes and the longing to perhaps do something different and enjoy their teenage years.

All of this is done to keep tourism running and to present a beautiful perfect paradise. These downsides the locals go through are mostly unknown to the tourists, as most of the goods are delivered to an unseen harbour.It is paradox this kind of struggle people have to go through to create such a paradise. Or to say it differently, what someone has to do, so someone else can have an amazing getaway/vacation. The tourists don’t see the real struggle faced by the locals behind all of this beauty and luxury, if so it would not be possible to enjoy the vacation without guilt in your heart.