Park School Dad Raises Funds for Education in His Native Nepal

Jay Tamang left his native Nepal in 2004.

To say he never looked back would be missing the best part of the story.

Tamang grew up in the small village of Bhalche, northwest of Kathmandu. He did so with no electricity, running water, telephones or nearby school. He left home at 15 to be a trekking guide in Kathmandu, earning $2/day by carrying trekkers' bags up into the high Himalayas. He did that for 12 years, marrying his wife Biba and having two small children, before heading to the U.S. with the help of some Americans he'd met on a trek.

He eventually landed in Mill Valley where one of his trekking friends lives, and he brought his family to Marin to begin their new life in 2006. Their two children attend and Jay Tamang is a well known checkout clerk at on Miller Avenue.

But while Tamang's passage to the 94941 is certainly compelling, what he's done since then has inspired his neighbors, friends and fellow Park parents.

In 2009, Tamang launched Nepal FREED (Foundation for Rural Educational & Economic Development), which raises money to build schools in the remote villages of Nepal. With the help of Park parents, Nepal FREED has built a school in lower Bhalche, a library in nearby Kahule and paid for teachers to educate children at both facilities.

The library, dubbed Park Library in honor of the parents of Park School who donated the money to build it, is located in the small village of Kahule in Nepal. The library benefits more than 300 hundred students, and the foundation also raised enough money to pay for a teacher for 60 children in Upper Bhalche to teach English to the students there.

Nepal FREED is featuring lively dance, chai and ice cream. The event is 1:45 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the auditorium and organizers are suggesting a $20 donation.