Lha Charitable Trust Institute for Social Work & Education
Lha is a sacred Tibetan word that means “awakened state of mind” and “nature of goodness”.
WHO WE ARE Lha Charitable Trust is a grass-roots,
12AA & 80G non-profit organisation. One of the largest Tibetan social welfare organizations based in Dharamshala, India. Founded in 1997, registered as a charitable trust by the Indian Government in 2005, with eighteen years in service. Aims to provide vital resources for Tibetan refugees, the local Indian community, and the people of the Himalayan region.
Lha is a resource of education and knowledge that provides meaningful, multileveled social and educational services for the benefit of others.
OBJECTIVES To provide education and other vocational skills To facilitate meaningful mutual learning and cultural
exchange experience To create awareness about the Tibetan refugee situation To preserve Tibet’s endangered culture To generate harmony and cooperation within the Dharamshala community.
Lha is unique in the range and quality of programs and services it provides on a daily basis to over 150 people. It hosts 15-25 volunteers every month.
Community Soup Kitchen & clean water
Language Courses Computer & IT skills
Free books, medicine and clothes
Vocational Training
Social Services Contact Newsletter (Free)
Cultural Exchange
Volunteer Opportunities & Coordination
Health & Environmental Education
Medical Services
Lha’s Language Classes
Lha provides a wide range of multileveled language classes. 4 different levels of English Language classes 3 different levels of French and Chinese Language classes One level of German and Tibetan Language Classes More than 10700 students have benefited from these classes since 2005.
Lha Computer Classes & IT Workshops Lha also provides
different levels of Computer classes and other specified IT workshops. Over 2700 studetns have been benefited from the Lha computer and IT work shop till now . Lha computer includes basic introduction to the computer to MS. Office, photoshop, Indesign , and web designing courses .
Community Soup Kitchen
In 2011, opened a community soup kitchen Serves between 50-60 people daily. To provide healthy and nutritious food to whose who need help and also to give nutritional education. More than 300 needy Tibetan refugees were benefited till now.
Free Community Newspaper Contact News letter is a
free monthly publication It is a source of news on Tibetan issues and community information in Dharamshala. Over 700 to 1000 copies were printed and distributed to many diplomatic missions in New Delhi, institutions, the Central Tibetan Administration offices, Tibetan schools and settlements around India, and to subscribers abroad every month.
Preservation of Tibetan Culture and heritage As
an initiative towards preserving Tibet’s culture, language and heritage, and to help it to flourish, Lha launched a bilingual (Tibetan and English) website on Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, where Rinpoche’s writings, speeches and teachings are now made freely available to the general public.
www.samdhongrinpoche.com
Culture Exchange Program •Lha Cultural Exchange Program was started in 2002 • Lha receives many groups of studetns from universities, schools and organizations from the US, Mexico, Taiwan, UK, France and Australia. •Includes Mutual Learning Program where visitors were paired up with Tibetan students from Lha. • Also organize guest lecturers on Tibetan Buddhism, Culture and Traditions , by renowned scholars.
Clean Water Project
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Lha aims to provide clean and safe drinking water to the community, thereby eliminating the many contaminated water born diseases. ď‚— Lha has installed 21 RO/UV treated water filtration systems benefiting over 8000 people . ď‚— The water filters are mostly installed in big communities such as Schools, hospitals, Monasteries, old age people home, etc.
Environmental Awareness & Initiatives
Lha initiates activities such as community clean-ups and trash collections to keep the community clean and tidy. Lha's environmental website www.tibetnature.net about environmental protection, both in Dharamshala and Tibet. It is a bilingual website with information on Tibet’s environmental issues .
LHA’S FREE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS & SERVICES Health & Hygiene Initiatives
Activities and workshops to improve the health and hygiene of the Dharamshala community. HIV/AIDS awareness talks, Free distribution of medicines, leaflets in 3 languages
Clear Vision & Tibetan Smiles Projects
From 2009 to 2014, provided 367 people with free eye examinations, 258 glasses provided. 415 people - free dental check-ups, cleaning, extractions, medication, and other dental services.
LHA’S FREE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS & SERVICES
Clothing & Book Distribution
Lha also collects donations of old clothing and books from the visitors and redistributed them to the needy individuals through Rotary Club Dharamshala.
Community Library Lha also has a community library
which contains a wide collection of books on Tibetan history, Buddhism and philosophy, Novels , etc. Lha community library is open to the general public.
GET INVOLVED Lha offers a wide range of long-term, short-term and drop-in volunteer opportunities at no cost to individuals and groups. Lha hosts around 15-20 volunteers every day and over 600 per year. While volunteering with Lha, you will be immersed in the fascinating culture of the people you are serving, develop friendships, learn about issues facing the Tibetan refugee community and create positive change in someone else’s life. Ways to share your knowledge and skills:
Language, computer and massage instructors Fundraisers and grant writers Computer and IT professionals Human rights, legal, environmental, medical and healthcare professionals Journalists, librarians and web designers Chefs and cooks
Lha’s commitment remains consistent and strong: to help the Tibetan people prosper in their new home and to preserve their unique culture.
Lha Visitor Services Besides the wide range of
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multi-leveled social services , Lha also provides many other services to the visitors . These services includes:Volunteer Reception Volunteer Orientation Tibetan Cooking Class Tibetan Home-stay Volunteer Social gathering Cultural Exchange program
Lha Tibet Fair Trade Lha Tibet Fair Trade, Pvt. Ltd. (LTFT) is
a retailer, import & export, and wholesale company registered with the Government of India.
The Profit of LTFT support the vital
operations of the Lha Charitable Trust, through which we seek to become more sustainable and self-sufficient. www.tibetfairtrade.com
LTFT offers a wide range of handmade
Tibetan craftworks – from handloom textiles to jewelry, home décor and personal accessories to Tibetan art. We are committed to ensure that our
artists are paid fair market value for their products, encouraging them to pay their workers a living wage, and develop a larger and more sustainable market.
Lha’s Achievements Lha won the 2nd position in the
category “Best Practices of Social Media Usage” in the South Asia eNGO Challenge 2014 award, New Delhi Over 300 NGO’s from six different countries were nominated
Volunteer Social Gathering & Program Evaluation Lha organize volunteer social
gatherings twice every month . The Main objective is to let the volunteers know each other and also to collect the valuable suggestions and feedbacks from the volunteers.
Feedback and Evaluation
Mike Crooke and Marion Brown from England has done an extensive research and survey on every program at Lha , and found out that the organization is running up to its aims and objectives.
Lha is made possible through the tireless dedication of our staff and volunteers that share their valuable time and energy.
DONATE The generous financial support from individuals, volunteers and organizations allow
Lha to provide a variety of FREE social and education services to the local community.
How you can help:
Support a specific project like the Soup Kitchen, Environment Projects, Clean Water Project and Health projects. Share your skills and spend time with Tibetan refugees students by volunteering at Lha. Create awareness about the Tibetan refugee situation and the preservation of the endangered Tibetan culture Donations accepted are medicine, clothing, books, new or used computers, classroom supplies, kitchen equipment. Monetary donations are much appreciated.
Lha Charitable Trust Temple Road, McLeod Ganj Dharamsala-176219 Distt. Kangra (H.P.) INDIA Office:+91 (0) 1892-220992 office@socialwork.org www.lhasocialwork.org www.samdhongrinpoche.com www.tibetnature.net www.contactmagazine.net