Rajesh Kumar Thapa
Top Concerns
Family separation
"My daughter doesn't remember my face sometimes."
Documentation
"If my visa has problems, everything collapses."
Work conditions
"Twelve hours in August sun. Some men collapse."
Wages
"The agency takes their cut. Sometimes money is late."
Health
"If I get injured, what happens? Who pays?"
Values Profile
Schwartz Human Values Model
Background
Rajesh came to Portugal through a recruitment agency. The agent in Kathmandu promised good wages, proper housing, a path to residency. The reality is more complicated. The wages are better than Nepal—he sends home €500/month—but the conditions are harsh. Six men in a room. Twelve-hour days in summer heat. Portuguese he barely speaks, learned from YouTube and colleagues.
He's part of a wave. Portuguese construction needs workers desperately—housing crisis means building boom means imported labor. Nepali, Indian, Bangladeshi men fill the gaps Portuguese workers won't. They're visible on construction sites across Lisbon, less visible anywhere else.
The isolation is crushing. His daughter is growing up without him—he video calls when he can, but the time difference and exhaustion make it hard. His wife manages alone, waiting for the money he sends, waiting for him to return or for her to join him—neither seems close.
Portuguese society barely registers him. He's a worker, not a person—useful for building apartments he could never afford, invisible otherwise. He doesn't understand Portuguese politics, doesn't follow the news, couldn't name the president. What matters: wages get paid, visa gets renewed, family stays fed.
He's heard about other workers whose agencies disappeared, who got deported, who were injured and sent home with nothing. He prays, tries to follow the rules, hopes for a path to permanence.
Economic Situation
Income level
Low (€900/month base, variable with overtime)
Income source
Construction wages (agency-mediated)
Financial stress
Moderate (sends €500+ home monthly)
Trajectory
Uncertain—depends on contracts, documentation
Hopes
For themselves
himself
"I want to bring my family here. Or save enough to go home and start a business. One or the other—but not this in-between forever."
his family
"I want my daughter to go to good school. My wife to not work so hard. My parents to have medicine when they're sick."
fellow workers
"I hope the agencies treat us fairly. That Portuguese people see us as workers, not problems."
Personal fears
"Injury. Deportation. My wife giving up. My daughter forgetting me. Growing old far from home with nothing to show."
How he'd describe his experience
"Portugal is work. I don't know Portugal—I know the construction site, the room I sleep in, the video calls home. Portuguese people seem okay; they don't bother us. Some workers had problems—agencies that cheated, injuries not paid. I've been lucky so far. Inshallah—I mean, by God's grace—it continues."
What he'd want Portuguese people to know
"We're not here because we want to be away from home. We're here because there's no work at home. We build your buildings, clean your streets, pick your fruit. We just want to be treated fairly and go home someday with something to show."
On his daughter
"She's five. I've been gone since she was three. On video she shows me her drawings, her toys. She calls me 'Papa' but sometimes looks confused, like she's not sure who I am. That's the price. I pay it for her future."
For Portugal
Fears about Portugal
"That they don't need us anymore. That the rules change. That we're sent back before we've earned enough."
Fears
For themselves
Personal fears
"Injury. Deportation. My wife giving up. My daughter forgetting me. Growing old far from home with nothing to show."
How he'd describe his experience
"Portugal is work. I don't know Portugal—I know the construction site, the room I sleep in, the video calls home. Portuguese people seem okay; they don't bother us. Some workers had problems—agencies that cheated, injuries not paid. I've been lucky so far. Inshallah—I mean, by God's grace—it continues."
What he'd want Portuguese people to know
"We're not here because we want to be away from home. We're here because there's no work at home. We build your buildings, clean your streets, pick your fruit. We just want to be treated fairly and go home someday with something to show."
On his daughter
"She's five. I've been gone since she was three. On video she shows me her drawings, her toys. She calls me 'Papa' but sometimes looks confused, like she's not sure who I am. That's the price. I pay it for her future."
For Portugal
Fears about Portugal
"That they don't need us anymore. That the rules change. That we're sent back before we've earned enough."
Information Sources
Where they get their information
community
High TrustFellow Nepali workers, agency representative
online
High TrustNepali YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook
social media
High TrustWhatsApp (worker groups, family), Facebook
tv
None—no access