Community
19 February, 2024
Inspiring tale of Himalayan man’s dreams
THE much-anticipated life story of a Cairns resident who escaped from child slavery in Nepal and eradicated sex trafficking and child marriage in his village will be launched next month in time for International Women’s Day.
THE much-anticipated life story of a Cairns resident who escaped from child slavery in Nepal and eradicated sex trafficking and child marriage in his village will be launched next month in time for International Women’s Day.
Himalayan Dreams: The Story of Som Tamang is the biography of a man with a singular purpose: to improve the lives of girls in rural Nepal through education.
“As a child, Som watched girls disappear from his village and it was only when he became a slave himself in Kathmandu at age 10 that he realised most were being trafficked to India for the sex trade,” said author Kirsty Nancarrow.
“Som was determined to stop this happening to his younger sister Phulmaya, and worked hard to fund her education so she could pursue a career, rather than living a life of poverty as a farmer, marrying and having children in her early teens.”
Mr Tamang started funding the education of more children through his work as a Himalayan trekking guide and established Friends of Himalayan Children after moving to Australia, where he became the first person from Batase Village to earn a degree.
He later set up Take on Nepal, a trekking company focused on employing women guides, including his sister Phulmaya, who has completed a Diploma of Pharmacy, a Bachelor of Social Work, and now also calls Cairns home.
“I would not have been able to achieve my goal of establishing a children’s hostel and taking Batase School from finishing in grade 5 to grade 10 without the support of the Cairns community,” Mr Tamang said.
Ms Nancarrow said she was inspired to write his story and share some of the stories of the girls he had helped after volunteering as a teacher at Batase School in 2016.
“I could see the impact Som’s work was having on the village children and I wanted to support his campaign for gender equity and help Som realise his dream of extending Batase School to grade 12.”
The book launch and fundraising dinner for Friends of Himalayan Children is on March 2 from 6pm-10pm at The German Club in Cairns.
