कठिन पाईलाहरू Hard Steps is a publication resulting from the photographic and research project Nepal/Odemira by Nelson Miranda and edited by Susana Lourenço Marques (Pierrot le Fou). This project explores issues of migration, focusing on the Nepali population resident in Odemira (in southern Portugal) and on the places, communities and families, in Nepal, from where they departed. The edition reproduces photographs and testimonies taken in Portugal between 2020-2023 and in Nepal (April-June 2023).
It is a look at the impact of the expansion of this community – one of the fastest growing in Portugal in recent years (in percentage terms) – and which came originally to fulfil the lack of labour in the agricultural sector that thrives in that region.
In Nepal, the ramps and stairs that provide access to the interiors of many homes and small establishments and that protect them from the monsoon rains, as well as standing out for their distinctive geometry, colour and texture, seem to inspire the images for the stories of the challenges and obstacles faced by many of the Nepali men and women during their migration. The publication includes photographs, headlines from Portuguese and Nepalese newspapers, testimonies from relatives of migrants, texts by writer Manjushree Thapa, journalist Bhrikuti Rai and sociologist Pedro Góis.
