By Martina von der Brüggen

Volunteer job at Lha: English Conversation Teacher

Traveling to Asia was one of my biggest dreams for many, many years. Just for a laugh, I used to say to my family, “I´m sure that I must have been a rice farmer in a former life because I like it so much!” when we had rice for lunch or dinner.

There was a sea change in my life pretty well exactly two years ago. By thinking “now or never” I jumped at the opportunity and went to Kathmandu for four weeks to work at a leprosy hospital (I am an alternative practitioner). In retrospect, I have to say that it was the best decision in my life because it opened so many unknown doors.

I met a young woman in Kathmandu who had just returned from India.

She talked about her experience at Lha and I knew at once that I wanted to go there too. At the beginning of this year, I applied to Lha for volunteer work and about eight weeks later I was on the plane to Delhi full of happy anticipations and nervousness at the same time.

Thankfully Lha offers a reception and orientation service for Indian newbies like me and I was clever enough to sign up for it. My plane arrived at the Delhi airport in the middle of the night. But with the instructions I received by email some weeks before I left Germany, everything was easy-peasy – and I never felt lost. Tsering picked me up at the agreed meeting point at the airport and brought me to a hotel in MajnuKa Tilla for a nap. Later he did some sightseeing with me which I really enjoyed and in the evening he brought me to my bus to McLeod Ganj. As stupid as it may sound, coming to McLeod Ganj was like coming home. The staff at Lha took care of me and I didn´t feel alone one single moment. They put me in contact with people looking for German tutoring, which I have two times a day for the entire time of my stay. In addition, it was a pleasure for me to join the English conversation class every afternoon.

Because most of my students were male and I was interested in exploring the life of Tibetan women I applied for a homestay with a young Tibetan family – a mother with her two small children. I got the OK and lived with this family for the entire rest of my time in McLeod Ganj. We had a great time together – went hiking and shopping, did Koras, visited a Puja and enjoyed the intercultural exchange.
Before I left I felt like I was already missing all my new friends, my guest family, and the Lha staff and decided to return to Dharamshala as soon as possible – next year at the latest.