Lha depends on the goodwill of volunteers and monetary and material donations for it to provide essential rehabilitation resources to the exiled Tibetan community. Lha is a non-profit organization solely dependent on monetary contributions from philanthropic corporations and generous individuals. In India, even a little goes a long way, and a lot goes very far!

Account Name: Lha Charitable Trust
Account Number: 2517000101008335
Swift Code: PUNBINBBPAR
Bank Name: The Punjab National Bank
Branch: Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala, H.P

Payable to: Lha Charitable Trust
Lha Office Temple Road, Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala, 176219
Distt Kangra, Himachal Pradesh

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Tibetan Home Stay

 

Lha arranges home stays of up to one month in duration with Tibetan refugee families, giving participants a unique window into this ancient and at one time secret culture.

Uprooting a family and moving to a new environment takes its toll on many levels. It's a bit like going on a long term holiday but never getting to go back home to the life you are used to and have built up. For this reason the services that Lha provides through the running of this particular program are essential for the Tibetan culture to thrive in India. Daily life is the reality that needs to be addressed and regular home stays where most of the profits go directly to the host families has an almost instantaneous impact. The scope of the work done at Lha reaches as far wide as educational, cultural and social services & the home stay scheme plays an important role in all of that.

One of the main objectives behind the Tibetan home stay program is to let the world come to know about our daily life – providing you with a once in a lifetime opportunity for a cultural and knowledge exchange with an authentic Tibetan flavor. Sharing daily meals with your host family and playing a significant role in the rituals of daily life will ensure you are left with incredible insights and unforgettable memories that you can take back home. In other words experiencing first-hand the rich culture of the Tibetan people that still lives on today after centuries, despite all the hardships they are facing, will give you souvenirs of the mind and heart that other holidays don't even begin to deliver.

To add to that if mastering another language such as Tibetan is of interest to you, living with your host family will provide the most conducive environment for you to practice and master this great language which has so much knowledge entwined amongst its elegant letters in the sacred Buddhist scriptures. Local tours led by members of your family are also possible and if you would like to discover more about the Tibetan culture and current situation lectures by esteemed and experienced members of the community can be easily arranged. When applying for the home stay program it is important that you understand the living standards of Tibetan refugees in India are understandably very low. In other words the basic facilities that are provided by the family might be less than what you are used to. If however you feel this is a small sacrifice to make for the possibilities and learning's this wonderful opportunity presents, then it may just be the perfect program for you! Tibetans living in exile are open to learning about people from different cultures and sharing the difficulties and realities of living in exile. Tibetan people, whilst generally shy in nature, are very welcoming and always smile beautiful smiles easily! Lifelong friendships that span oceans and time are often formed through happy home stay experiences with Tibetan families through this heartwarming Lha program.

Go to the online Application Form for the Homestay service

Thanks again for your interest homestay program for the Tibetan Community!

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  • Financial Report
  • Annual Reports
  • General Report
  • Review of Achievements
Lha is a non-profit, non-governmental, grassroots social work organization located in Dharamsala, India. Lha was founded in 1997 and in 2005 was registered as a non-profit and charitable trust in Himachal Pradesh. Every year we submit our income statements to the Indian Income-Tax Department and undergo an audit. The following are our financial statements from 2005 to 2011 fiscal years, which have already been reviewed. Following the financial statements are graphical representations of some of the key aspects we would like to highlight.

Lha's commitment is to help the Tibetan people survive and prosper in their new home of Dharamsala and to preserve their profoundly unique culture. The means to which we have been able to accomplish these goals has changed over the years. In 2005, as a young organization, Lha had few assets. Lha has steadily grown since then, and now occupies two buildings, which house our classes, soup kitchen, social services and volunteer and exchange student group accommodations. In 2005 Lha had seven full time employees, which has since expanded to nine. The notable increase in wage expenses between 2009 and 2011 reflects the decision to provide a livable wage to the Tibetan employees.

Lha took on the responsibility to pay rent for the operations building during the 2009 financial year, after the purchasing of the new Ahimsa House building, and becoming more financially stable. Since 2005 we have slowly been accumulating assets for the language classes, computer courses and social services which function out of the building, such as computers for our offices and classes, and books and teaching resources for the community libraries.

In 2007 Lha began the process of acquiring a four story building, the Ahimsa House, to house a community soup kitchen and volunteer accommodation. In May 2011 Lha used the remaining funds from the corpus receipt and capital fund to make the final payment on the Ahimsa House. This will be reflected in the financial statement for the 2012 financial year. We began working on the community soup kitchen project in 2010 and officially opened it in 2011. Since 2007 Lha has also purchased many furnishings and appliances for the volunteer accommodations. The donations from Exchange students and volunteers staying in Lha’s accommodations have also created a new source of income for Lha. In the future, Lha hopes that the donations raised from visitors in these accommodations, in conjunction with cultural exchanges and visitors services, will create a stable and sustainable financial foundation for the organization.

The Annual Report, written by Lha’s Director, Ngawang Rabgyal, sets out the aims of the organization, the year’s developments and the latest financial position. It also illustrates the diversity of the social programs provided, and the numbers of students who have benefited from these services. These achievements could not have been reached without the generosity of the volunteers and the dedication of the students and Lha’s employees.

Lha’s primary goal is to provide meaningful social services, such as free education, computer skills courses, vocational training, health and environmental education and service, volunteer coordination, cultural exchanges, free books, medicine and clothing distribution. The services of Lha are open to Tibetan refugees as well as the local Indian population and people from the Himalayan regions.