Lha Cultural Exchange Student Groups

July 31, 2014;

The last group from Rustic Pathway with Lha students
Photo: Lha

The Lha student exchange programme was started a decade ago and has been progressing successfully ever since. In the month July, Lha hosted a number of students from various American universities. A student group from Lifework International visited Lha from June 30 to July 10, a student group from Loyola visited from July 7 – 26 and four different student groups from Rustic Pathways visited between July 5 – 28 for short periods of time.

The students taking part in this mutual learning programme with Lha students attended lectures on Tibet by various speakers and visited the Central Tibetan Administration complex; the Tibetan Library of Works and Archives; Norbulingka, the centre for preservation of Tibetan culture, and other places around Mcleod Ganj. The students were very keen to learn about Tibetan culture and traditions, and were paired up with Lha students as their mutual learning partners.

The aim of this project is to give students a chance to experience Tibetan culture first hand, to learn, to connect with and to support the Tibetan exile community and local Indian community. It also provides an opportunity for Lha students to practice their English, to express their thoughts, and share their experiences with their mutual learning partners.

The student group from Loyola with their Tibetan student partners
Photo: Lha

In total, there were 90 students from Rustic Pathway, 12 students in the Lifework International group and 17 students in the group from Loyola. All the student groups were welcomed with a presentation about Lha and the locality in general, and were bid farewell with khataks (Tibetan white scarves which symbolise good luck), and a small memento to show appreciation of their participation and support for our projects and initiatives. It is Lha’s goal to continue these exchange projects, creating further mutual learning opportunities and offering students the opportunity to meet someone from the other side of the world, and to share knowledge and skills across borders.
Lha truly appreciates the constant support and participation of student groups from different universities and schools across the world. We look forward to hosting three more groups this year.