By Joni BoydFriday 26 Apr 2024Finding HopeInspirational StoriesReading Time: 6 minutes
In a tale of two very different lives coming together to create something amazing, award winning former ABC journalist Kirsty Nancarrow’s new book ‘Himalayan Dreams: How a Child Slave Moved Mountains to Save a Generation in Nepal’ tells the story of Som Tamang whose work in Nepal has saved countless lives and stemmed the tide of human trafficking in his home village.
Key points
- As a young boy in Nepal, Som witnessed his sister being engaged at a very young age and decided that there was no way his other siblings would meet the same fate.
- In 2007, Som established Friends of Himalayan Children to improve access to education in Batase and other rural villages around Nepal.
- After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Kirsty and Som first met when she interviewed him for her ABC radio show. Kirsty knew she needed to share Som’s story.
- Hear the full episode of Finding Hope in the listener above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Kirsty and Som first met when Kirsty spent a month in Batase, Nepal, during her recovery from depression and PTSD.
Batase just happens to be the base for Take on Nepal, a trekking guide for tourists that has raised funds for a world class school, homes for students and support for an entire village. Yep, you guessed it – Som is the founder.
But the story starts much further back, when Som was growing up in Batase where schools only went to Grade 5 and only boys were allowed to attend. Located 1800 metres above sea level, Batase is a steep two-day trek from Kathmandu and has no electricity, roads or shops. Surrounded by thick jungle, the village’s only form of healthcare are witch doctors.
Som remembers many girls who left the village and never returned. Often trafficked and forced to marry, many became mothers as young as 13. Boys would immediately begin working on the farm after Grade 5.
As the oldest son, with five siblings, Som witnessed his sister being engaged at a very young age. Thankfully, she managed to avoid being married but it was enough for Som to decide that there was no way his other siblings would meet the same fate.
Trafficked into forced labour
When he was offered a spot at a boarding school in Kathmandu, Som jumped at the opportunity. Assuming that his parents wouldn’t let him go, 10-year-old Som didn’t tell them where he was going.
Rather than being placed in a boarding school as promised, Som ended up living with a family who forced him to be their slave. He spent his days cooking and cleaning until he managed to escape two years later, returning to the village.
Som witnessed his sister being engaged at a very young age and decided that there was no way his other siblings would meet the same fate.
By then, Som was too old to go to school so was put straight to work, which eventually led him back to Kathmandu and into construction work, which was often exploitative, and finally to working as a porter, transporting tourists up and down the Himalayas.
It was there that he met people from all walks of life and knew there were more opportunities out there for him.
Som moved to Cairns when he was 20 years old to study English, and later a Bachelor of Social Work, all the while sending money back to his family.
Friends of Himalayan Children
Unable to escape the gnawing need to help his village in a more meaningful way, in 2007 he established a non-profit organisation called Friends of Himalayan Children to improve access to education in Batase and other rural villages around Nepal. He hadn’t forgotten the promise he made to himself when he was younger – he was determinted that children (especially girls) should have the option to stay in school and stay with community, rather than marrying early or risking being trafficked.
In 2007, Som established Friends of Himalayan Children to improve access to education in Batase and other rural villages around Nepal.
Through Friends of Himalayan Children, Som built schools, as well as accommodation for staff and students to stay in during the school year. Often kids travelled for hours to get to and from school, so the accommodation gave them better, safer access.
These days, children come from surrounding villages to go to the school which goes to Grade 10 for both boys and girls. Som is hoping to soon be able go to Grade 12.
The organisation has worked hard to build infrastructure, to enable the village to sustain itself, no matter what may happen.
Incredibly, it’s been many years since a girl has been trafficked from Batase.
Left-right: Cairns volunteer teacher Steve Johnson, Som’s first day of school, a student with teaching aid from the Great Barrier Reef.
Take on Nepal
In 2014, Som founded trekking organisation Take on Nepal, taking tourists up and down Mount Everest and surrounding mountains.
With many of the employed guides being women, he is one of the first organisations to employ women and has been instrumental in shifting the tide in Nepal towards a safer environment for women.
In a powerful full-circle story, some of the guides he employs are also from his village, where Som funds education, and provides employment opportunities.
Tragedy hits
Som’s journey through adulthood has not been without heartache. In 2015, Nepal had its deadliest earthquake in history with almost 9000 killed and 20 000+ injured.
Som’s brother, who worked at Friends of Himalayan Children, was killed while doing a welfare check at a school.
After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Kirsty and Som first met when she interviewed him for her ABC radio show. Kirsty knew she needed to share Som’s story.
With his village and life work destroyed, Som began rebuilding the school and all infrastructure in the village, with the help of generous supporters from his now hometown of Cairns.
It was after this earthquake that Kirsty and Som first met. When she interviewed him on her ABC radio show, Kirsty knew she needed to share Som’s story.
Kirsty then returned to Nepal in 2016 to help with the recovery effort – and to try and recover from depression and PTSD as a result of being exposed to the daily newsfeed of human suffering in her work as a journalist.
Left-right: A home destroyed in the earthquake, Som and his brother Amber in 2009, Som’s Talamarang hostel was destroyed by the earthquake.
Life Now
Som is now an Australian citizen and lives in Cairnes with his wife, an Irish immigrant he met soon after moving to Australia and whom Som describes as his “soul mate”. They have three children.
Phulmaya, Som’s younger sister, lives in Cairns with them and it is because of him that she received an education and went on to study at University of Australia.
It’s clear to see that Som never lost sight of his homeland in Nepal. These days, he flies back and forth between Cairns and Nepal, often taking others with him, in a lifelong effort to improve the lives of Nepalese people.
Som’s story shows what the human spirit is truly capable of.
Left-right: Kirsty walking to Batase school to volunteer, Som and his family, Kirsty with sponsor child Jenisha Tamang.
Hear the full episode of Finding Hope in the listener above or wherever you get your podcasts.
All photos supplied.