Two years ago, Lha began its “Clear Vision” program to provide free optometrist appointments and corrective lenses to residents of McLeod Ganj. This health care program came to an end when the funds were depleted. This year, thanks to the generous donations from Miss Aubrey Lynne to the Clear Vision program and Frances Phares of Louisiana to the Dental project, we have been able to both continue our provision of eye care and expand the program to also encompass dental care.

Thousands of articles of clothing, shoes and other items are donated to Lha every year. Lha redistributes these articles to the Tibetan Refugee and Indian communities in Dharamsala through large-scale clothing distribution campaigns, which occur multiple times a year.

Since 2002, Lha has been bringing groups of students from other countries to McLeod Ganj for a Cultural Exchange program.  This year 82 students participated from six different academic institutions.  Lha’s final group of students for the 2011 Cultural Exchange program bid farewell to McLeod Ganj and their friends in the Tibetan community this week as they headed home to New Orleans. The group was made up of 15 students from Tulane University’s School of Social Work, who were accompanied by one of their professors as well as the School’s Dean.

Lha Community Soup Kitchen at Lha’s new building, the Ahimsa House, opened on 6^th July 2011 commemorating the 76^th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The day was celebrated with a special lunch of nutritious food and filtered drinking water served to 37 people. Such would be 1^st of its kind in Dharamsala and the exiled Tibetan community.

Mutual learning exchange program is one of the services offered by Lha.  Groups of students from different educational institutes in the USA, such as Tulane University, Loyola College, Centenary College, Lifework International, and Rustic Pathway have come to Dharamsala for the past several years to learn and share their knowledge with our Tibetan students and to explore the Tibetan and Indian culture and society.

Cultural exchange groups are introduced to the Tibetan community in a variety of ways.  For example, each visiting student is paired with one of Lha’s Tibetan students for mutual learning.  Also, student groups will be taken to Bir Tibetan community and the holy place of Rewalsar (Tso-pema).

How would you like to add to your repertoire of massage therapy techniques by training in McLeod Ganj, amidst the mountainous terrain, learning not only new techniques, but also learning alongside others with a strong motivation to strengthen their masseuse skills?  Lha provides this type of atmosphere for those who seek to deepen their knowledge of massage therapy.

In January 2011, ten Tibetan students participated in a one month photography workshop at Lha Charitable Trust. These students learned photography theory, Adobe Photoshop, online photo storage and applied these techniques in the real world.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/jan/01/teaching-job-leads-feeding-ministry-20110101/

Tibetan exchange
By Christie Storm

LITTLE ROCK --
LITTLE ROCK — Each week parishioners at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville offer free meals to those in need through the Community Meals ministry. Now, they’re hoping to extend their reach quite a bit farther - halfway around the world - to India to help Tibetans living in exile.
The idea of helping the Tibetans came from Milton Burke, who volunteers as a dishwasher for the Community Meals outreach. Burke and his wife, Mimi, spent eight months teaching and volunteering in Dharamsala, India, this year. Milton Burke, 63, had recently retired from teaching honors English at Fayetteville High School and the couple were looking for volunteer opportunities.

Lha receives many practical donations from foreigners in the form of clothing, medicine, stationary and other materials.  These donations are in turn given to the local Tibetan community and to the needy Indian community located in the slum areas of lower Dharamsala through the Dharamsala Rotary Club.

Lha’s fifth cultural exchange program for 2010 took a group of thirteen students and two professors from the School of Social Work, Tulane University, New Orleans. They arrived here in Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala on 10 September 2010 and stayed until 23 September 2010. We commenced with a brief introductory session explaining the charitable objectives of Lha.  We then introduced the American exchange students to their Tibetan student partners in order for them to swap thoughts and opinions on their vastly different cultures.