Volunteer job at Lha: English teacher, elementary class.
I didn’t know anything about Lha when I reached Dharamsala in December 2012 and went to ask for a volunteer job. I was nervous as I was asking for a job for the first time, even though it was a volunteer job. To my surprise, the Director Gen Rabyal la accepted me as a volunteer English teacher despite my lack of experience. I volunteered at Lha for two months then, and again for 3 months this year.
The students were lovely and dedicated to their studies and of course it was quite challenging for me to teach students who were just starting to learn English. The one thing which is commonly found among all Tibetans is their shy nature, which I think is their main obstacle for progress. During my classes, I often ask them to be more open and confident if they really want to improve their English, as a teacher can’t know what their doubts are unless they speak out. As days passed and they became more open I could feel the progress in their English grammar. Their strong thirst to learn English made me put extra effort into my teaching.
Because of my students, I thoroughly enjoyed every single class. Every class would end with students saying thank you (thuche thuche) with a great smile on their faces which would brighten my days. I always used watch their facial expression to see if they were satisfied with my teaching. But there wasn’t even a single day when I had a feeling that they were not satisfied, which inspired me to become a teacher.
I learned to have confidence, as well as leadership, socialism and teaching skills, and those two months became the first steps towards my career.
I truly enjoyed those first two months at Lha with my students, and the Lha staff were very simple, kind and friendly and made me feel as though I was part of a family there. I always feel that it was my luck to work at Lha. Because of Lha, I had the opportunity to be a private tutor as well as teaching classes, and this has enabled me to become the experienced and confident teacher that I am now. Teaching has been my passion since childhood but I didn’t know until I joined Lha that I would truly enjoy teaching and this has given me inner happiness and satisfaction. During my five months at Lha, I found that teaching is the best learning.
Lha became a part of my journey, I am very thankful to Lha and plan to volunteer more at Lha in the future. I want to give a message to people that if you want to get experience then Lha is the place where you can volunteer and also make a contribution.
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