New Building

1. THE PROJECT

1.1 Description and Timeline

Lha is in the process of acquiring new premises. A purchase agreement, accompanied by a cash deposit, has been signed. If all payment deadlines as soon possible. Lha is currently working to raise funds to cover the full purchasing costs for the new building.

1.2 Project Rationale

Lha has embarked on this project in order to better deliver its current services, further expand its activities, and to attain complete organizational self-sufficiency.

Lha is the only organization of its kind in Dharamsala and is unique in the vast range of services it provides. Lha addresses a real need amongst the Tibetan refugee population, confirmed by the exponential growth in the number of people benefitting from Lha's services. Lha is now struggling to meet their needs because of the lack of space.

Lha has been renting space from the Tibetan Refugee Handicraft Coop (Dharamsala) since 2003. However, this arrangement poses the following problems:

1. There is no room for expanding to meet the ever-increasing need for Lha's services. All rooms in the current premises are being used at maximum capacity and are inadequate to accommodate the growing number of Tibetan refugees who wish to take English and IT classes, to the point that students are literally sitting in the corridor during classes.

3. Lha has little security for rental payments, since it depends on a single donor organization to pay the rent, and the agreement with this funding organization expires in 2010. This curtails Lha's ability to effectively plan in the long term. Since all staff salaries are self-generated (as detailed above in section 1.4), generating rent is the only hurdle preventing total financial self-sufficiency.

A building fully owned by Lha would address these problems by ensuring:

1. space to expand the provision of current services, in order to better meet the community’s growing needs;

2. the opportunity for Lha to embark on new projects in order to achieve its aims more effectively;

3.   Lha will have full ownership of the new building and will no longer be dependent on external donors for either rent or mortgage payments. This will enable the organization to better plan for the future.

4. space to expand current income-generating activities, further guaranteeing financial self-sufficiency in the years to come. Long term, Lha, the population it serves, and its staff, would benefit from the security of owning its own facilities, where financial donations and extra income will serve as a resource for future community social work projects.

3. FEATURES OF THE NEW BUILDING

* Four floors plus a rooftop that is securely fenced in and useable for yoga and for extra class space.

* Surface area: 5255 square feet inside the building, plus 1597 square feet for the rooftop.

* Built in 2000, the building is in excellent condition and has spectacular views.

* The layout of the building is such that no immediate construction work is necessary to begin Lha’s social service activities.

* A new solar water heating system on the rooftop was recently installed, which supplies hot water to the entire building year round.

* 16 restrooms (compared to two in the old building).

4. PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW BUILDING

* The number of classrooms will increase in number and size. The old building has two small language classrooms and one small computer room, whereas the new building will have two much larger language rooms, a larger computer room, a large lecture/meditation/film hall, and a large area on the rooftop to use for yoga and extra class space.

* The library space will triple in size.

* A book storage and distribution center. Some 50,000 used books have been donated, so extra storage space will be rented until the new building is available in June 08).

* The kitchen area will be expanded for more cooking classes, and also for preparing affordable healthy lunches for Tibetan students and volunteers.

* A new restaurant and café, which will mainly cater for volunteers and the local tourist population, generating further revenue for Lha’s services and projects.

* Expanded volunteer coordination office and reception area.

* Staff and manager's office (currently there is none).

* New accommodation space (three apartments, 11 beds) to house foreign volunteers. Currently, no such facilities exist.

* Increased number of full-time, salaried positions to support the new programs and projects.

* Room for the production of Contact community newspaper and Lha community internet radio.

* Health room for the provision of health and hygiene education along with massage, acupuncture and reiki.

* Office space for environmental education and awareness projects.

6. BANKING/DONATION INFORMATION

You can donate to the new building project in three ways:

1. By cheque, payable to Lha Charitable Trust. Please send to:

2. With Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express via PayPal.

See the Donate page of our website for more information.

7. CONTACT INFORMATION

In India

Mr. Ngawang Rabgyal ( Lha Charitable Trust Director)

Lha Charitable Trust

Temple Road, P.O. McLeod Ganj 176219

Dharamsala H.P INDIA

Lha Office Telephone: 0091 (0) 1892-220992

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Website: www.lhasocialwork.org

In the U.S.A.

Professor  Neil Guidry ACSW, LCSW (Lha Charitable Trust Consultant)

Tulane University School of Social Work,

6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118

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