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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Lha clean water project survey report

Background
Clean drinking water is an essential part in maintaining quality health among any population. Dharamsala's lack of filtered drinking water is significantly contributing to a rise in health problems in both the local Indian community and the Tibetan Refugee community alike. An inadequate drainage and septic system, leaking water pipes, water shortages and polluted drinking water all contribute to the decrease in health that the local community is facing. The most vulnerable members of society, those living below the poverty line, bare the biggest health burden.

To decrease the risk of water borne illness in the community, Lha has taken on a water filtration initiative in seven schools since 2010, six Tibetan schools and one Indian school. The filtration system uses a Reverse-osmosis, Activated Carbon and Ultra-violet process. The water filtration installation system includes a 500 liter stainless steel storage tank which acts as a reserve water supply in the event of a power outage or water shortage. The system is able to effectively filter 100 liters of water per hour. An additional 2086 students and approximately 200 staff are served by these filtration systems. Some of those students include those who board on school campus and thus they rely solely on the drinking water provided.

Survey Report
In autumn 2013, two environmental studies students volunteered with Lha to carry out a survey on the water filtration systems in all schools. The survey is used to see how the system has a direct impact on health and general awareness about contaminated water in the school communities, to check the systems efficiency and to assess the usage and acceptance of the system. This will allow us to identify areas for improvement in current and further installation.
The survey indicates a significant increase in student's health since the installation of the water filtration systems. With 84% of students and teachers agreeing that the system led to better health and only 16% agreeing that they did not see a change; there were no results indicating decrease in health. The increased health benefits of the water filtration system can also be seen through class attendance as 74% of students and teachers concluded that there is in fact an improvement in class attendance and thus fewer absences due to water borne illness.

Further education on drinking water safety is highly encouraged as the majority of survey respondents concluded that sediments and mud were the number one reason for water contamination (Figure 6). Education on bacteria and parasites may help to increase the awareness for the need to have fresh drinking water in order to help sustain quality health in a community.
Maintenance is essential for the sustainability of the water filtration systems. Thus, Lha has taken on the responsibility for the developmental sustainability of all of its current water filtration systems, all the while continuing to spread the message of safe drinking water for improved health by providing additional filtration systems to other schools.
To further this, there is a new job positing at Lha for a "Clean Water Project Manager." The employee will be responsible for managing health and hygiene education programs at varying locations (schools, monasteries, etc). The employee must stay in contact with the local Administration and Health Departments of the local Indian Government as well as the Central Tibetan Administration.

The water filtration project is highly valued and its ongoing success is necessary. We thank the Central Tibetan Administration for their recent letter of appreciation for the water filtration systems. We rely on the support of our donors and volunteers as a water filtration system instillation is around US $2 500. This includes a one year warranty, a water storage tank, the instillation fee and a water dispenser.
We sincerely appreciate all of your support in helping to making this great initiative possible!

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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.