Som Tamang’s life story by Kirsty Nancarrow

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Angus Mccoll - news bites

Som Tamang, founder of Friends of Himalayan Children, is just 38 years old and has already lived an extraordinary life. In fact, he’s lived a life so remarkable that it could easily fill a book. Kirsty Nancarrow thinks so too. She has just finalised a manuscript of Som’s life, ‘Himalayan Dreams – The story of Som Tamang’ – and is now seeking a publisher. The book will be available in the near future.

Som grew up in the village of Batase in the shadow of the Himalayas in regional Nepal. From a very early age he understood the importance of education to the quality and freedoms of a happy life and set about to make changes for himself and his community.
He and his friends experienced some of the worst that life could offer – poverty, sex trafficking, child slave labour and violence. Rather than succumbing to it, he chose to grow strong and fight back. He recognised that much of the injustice he was witnessing, particularly with the unfair treatment of young girls, was the product of out-dated and cruel cultural traditions.

Incredibly he made his way to Australia and worked hard to become financially capable enough to do something for his family, friends and his old community back in Nepal.
Som’s story is huge and Kirsty Nancarrow has eloquently captured all in her book. Kirsty knows first-hand about the limitations of life in Batase having travelled there twice in recent years. She was recently interviewed on local ABC Radio. The interview is available here: https://youtu.be/H2SZ4OVbegw