Volunteer job at Lha: scientific advisor/researcher
Jojo at Sambotha school in Chauntra
Photo: Lha
A meaningful life is what most of us are thriving for. This urge seems to be so important, that even His Holiness the Dalai Lama named a book after it “The Meaning of Life”. Many volunteer stories talk about the search for the meaning of live and this story probably won´t differ from those too much.
In 2011 I first heard about this organisation and then in 2013 I decided to volunteer with Lha’s Clean Water Project which was in its first year back then. I was interested in global coherencies and had the wish to be engaged and to make a change.
Jojo with Demay Tsering, Lha staff
Photo: Lha/Contact
After carrying out a broad survey in all the schools where Lha has installed Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration systems, we came to one central headline for the further development of the Project: SUSTAINABILITY. This includes proper maintenance of the systems and raising awareness about health and hygiene issues. With the hiring of Lha’s new Environment and Health Officer, Demay Tsering, the implementation of all the ideas for further development of the project started in January this year. We visited all the installation sites in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, talked with principals, teachers, staff and students about the filter system and hygiene awareness, introduced a newly developed filter part replacement scheme, tested water for bacterial contamination, pH, Hardness and other unwanted substances, climbed into storage tanks to clean and disinfect water as well as giving advice for long-term maintenance.
It was such a pleasure to be part of this beautiful Lha team. The motivation to support Lha to provide safe and clean drinking water and reduce suffering is strong, because it makes so much sense to me. How could I enjoy the clean water coming out of the taps in my home quite naturally while some of my friends in McLeod Ganj still suffer from easily avoidable waterborne diseases? What a meaningful occupation I found. I´m happy and I thank Lha for giving me this opportunity.
“I am not a foreigner, because we are all travelling, we are all full of the same questions, the same tiredness, the same fears, the same selfishness and the same generosity. I am not a foreigner because, when I asked I received. When I knocked, the door opened. When I looked, I found.”
Paulo Coelho (Aleph 2012)
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