TOP OF THE WORLD
AS A girl growing up in a Nepalese village, Phulmaya Tamang’s life revolved around farm chores, tending to her family’s cow and helping look after younger siblings.
School was not seen as an option because she’s a girl.
“I started school when I was 11,” says Phulmaya, who is visiting Cairns to support locally-based charity Friends of Himalayan Children.
Phulmaya, 26, says it was a visit by older brother Som – then living in Cairns – that changed her world.
“He came with his friends and his friends asked me if I am studying. I told them I’ve never been to school,” she said.
“Then Som decided to send me to school to help me. He told my mum and dad they have to help me go to school.”
Initially resistant, her parents did not stop her attending school, but she wasn’t allowed to go until she had done her usual chores and they didn’t have the money for a uniform.
“School was not easy for me because I have to cut grass before I go to school and help my mum and dad, then run to school late. After school, I needed to work in the farm.”
She was also the only girl and all the boys her age were in Grade 5 as she started Grade 1.
“The teacher was so surprised. He said: ‘Why have you
come to school? You are getting older.’ But I didn’t care. I just sat on the bench and took my book and studied.”
Two years ago, Phulmaya graduated with a Diploma of Pharmacy from the Nepal Institute of Health Science in Kathmandu and is now studying at university.
“My parents are proud of me and glad they didn’t try to stop me when I studied.”
Phulmaya has also broken
new ground as one of seven female trekking guides employed by Take on Nepal, the Cairns-based company run by brother Som and sister-in-law Susan Devitt.
“The girls think it is great chance. In Nepal, trekking guides is male-dominated.
“Trekking is an amazing job for me. People are surprised (to see us). They ask: ‘Why are you doing trekking? Don’t you feel tired?’.”
“We carry 15 to 20kg and walk faster than them. We say ‘we’re loving it’,”.
Phulmaya says she has been captivated by the beauty of her own country, which she had not seen until she started trekking in 2016.
“The first time I went to Everest Base Camp. After that I did The Three Passes. I hadn’t even seen a photograph of them before. I’m the luckiest woman, who is able to show
our mountains and show how Nepal is beautiful and to be a woman guide.”
Phulmaya’s story inspired her brother, Som Tamang, to found Friends of Himalayan Children in Cairns to educate children in Nepal.
Phulmaya is guest speaker at an FHC dinner in Cairns tonight and is happy to speak to other groups during her visit. For more details, email info@ f-hc.org or call 0439 782 563.