Lha hosted two groups in September who came as part of our Cultural Exchange Programme, the first coming from Tulane School of Social Work in the United States, the second was a small group of professional individuals, also American, who came with one of Lha’s founders and Advisory Board members, Neil Guidry. The group of twelve students from Tulane was led by Dr. Ron Marks and stayed at Lha’s Ahimsa House for one week,  engaging in various activities to familiarise themselves with Tibetan culture and the living conditions of exiled Tibetans.

They participated in our mutual learning programme where visiting students are paired up with Lha students so they can interact, get to know each other and hear first-hand stories of each other’s lives. The visitors get to hear the Tibetans’ stories of escape from Tibet, separation from their families and loved ones, and of their rehabilitation in exile. The Tibetan students show their partners around Mcleod, they explore the local communities and in the process are able to get one-to-one English conversation experience and informal tuition.

The group received a private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his residence. Lha is immensely grateful to Dr. Ron who has been supporting Lha and bringing Tulane University students to Dharamshala every year since 2002.
The second group, who came with Neil Guidry, were also with us for a week. The five members of the group stayed at Ahimsa House while exploring Dharamshala and engaging with the Tibetan exile community here. Lha invited Geshe Lhakdor, the Director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, to give the group a lecture, Mindfulness to Aid in a Joyful Life and Death, which was also attended by foreign volunteers. He invited questions from the audience after his brief talk.
It was the first visit to India for everyone in this group, and to meet Tibetans. Appreciating the opportunity o learn so much through this exchange programme, one of the group said, “I am so grateful to all of you. You’re the first Tibetans I have ever met in my life. I thought the Tibetans stopped coming into exile after His Holiness the Dalai Lama reached here. I don’t know how but I really hope to support the cause in the future.”