Lha Cultural Exchange Groups

Lha hosted two student groups for the Cultural Exchange programme in September. A group from the School of Social Work at Tulane University in New Orleans arrived on September 8 for a two week stay, led by Dr Ronald Marks, Professor Carolyn Weaver and Professor Michael Smith.
The second group was from Rustic Pathways, Australia which runs over 90 programmes in 18 countries introducing students to a range of experiences “off the beaten track”. This group of 12 people arrived in Dharamshala on September 23, led by Divya Parameshwara.

The student groups participated in the mutual learning programme to explore the Tibetan community and to learn more about the Tibetan culture and tradition. They were also introduced to Tibetan Buddhism and the current political situation in Tibet. The Tulane University group also attended a special talk introducing them to Buddhism by Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, the venerated spiritual leader and former head of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, and a well-known advocate of non-violence.
So far, Lha has hosted 14 student exchange group this year. Lha expects to host four more groups before the end of this year making a total of around 250 people from abroad during 2014.