Photo: Contact/Lha
I have had many successful years working in the corporate space, but after recovering from a major illness in 2016, I decided that I wanted to change course and do something more fulfilling and spiritual, by helping others build their futures. Last year I left the UK and started volunteering and travelling in India.
I fell upon Lha completely by chance. I was booked to go on a yoga teacher training course, but managed to dislocate my elbow which meant cancelling my training. While researching what else I could do, I found Lha and the volunteering opportunities they offer.
The organisation, staff and the students are all amazing. There are so many options to choose from, depending on your length of commitment. If you are only here for a short stay, you can drop in for conversation classes any day at 4pm. Here they set you up a small group of four to six monks and refugees of different levels, and you can talk about any subjects. It’s a great way to interact with the students and learn about the history of Tibet, Buddhism and their journeys, first hand. If you are here for a longer stay of around a month, you can offer to do one-on-one private tutoring. This gives you a deeper connection with an individual student and you can even pick up a bit of Tibetan in return. You meet the student before or after his/her group class for an hour every day, usually in a local coffee shop, and help them with topics they are struggling with. My students were beginners and I used online quizzes and games, as well as youTube videos to make the sessions more fun.
If you are staying for longer, then you can take on a regular class. They have English, French, Chinese, German, Tibetan and computer classes at different levels. I taught the intermediate English class for three months, for an hour every day. There is no set structure or syllabus, but they have a library full of books you can use to guide your lessons. I got all of my content from the internet – there is a whole heap of excellent free information on every topic – articles, worksheets, lesson plans, movies/videos, games, quizzes, tests etc.
My classes consisted of 15–25 students depending on the season. The students were monks from Thailand, Vietnam, Tibet, Nepal and India as well as Tibetan refugees and local Indians. They were all so respectful and entertaining, and it was the most rewarding experience in all my career history. Planning out content and structure of lessons kept me busy, but interacting with the students in class, and watching them grow plans through the course, was the highlight of my days and my entire stay.
I had never dreamt of being an English teacher but this experience has been so rewarding and satisfying it has cemented my decision to continue teaching full time. I’d recommend Lha to anyone wishing to experience something with a difference, and nourish their souls in the process.
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