Volunteer Job at Lha: Chinese Teacher
I dropped in at Lha one cold winter morning in 2015 to enquire about volunteer opportunities. I’d come to the right place at the right time as a Chinese teacher from Taiwan was leaving the very next day. Although I could hardly be considered a “native” Chinese speaker, I accepted the offer to teach introductory Chinese, albeit with some reservations. After all, I’m of Chinese descent and started learning Chinese at a young age.
My classes started on the right note and I soon took over the intermediate class. Teaching two classes at different levels to a motley crew of Tibetan monks, nuns, young school students, adult Tibetans, Nepalese, Ladakhis, Bhutanese and the odd western traveller, proved to be a challenging yet engaging undertaking. Challenging, because catering for, and teaching a diverse, constantly changing student body requires careful handling and lesson planning. I had to adapt by planning and conducting lessons in ways that suited the most number of students most of the time. I learned to grasp every opportunity as a teaching and learning moment for the students and myself also.
Because I have visited Tibet and other Tibetan regions quite extensively, my classroom experience was all the more endearing. I learned about the students and their families in Tibet and understood better the Tibetan community in Dharamshala at large. Their hopes and fears, dreams and endeavours inspired me. I taught for two months in 2015.
Fast forward to 2016. I have been here since New Year, still teaching intermediate Chinese. During the school holidays in January and February, at the request of Lha, I also tutored two TCV students in high school physics and chemistry; an ex-science teacher plying his old trade.
“Why do they want to learn Chinese?” I’ve been asked, sometimes with a, “shouldn’t they hate everything Chinese?” undertone. Legitimate or not, it’s one way for them to maintain emotional links to their homeland. Some want to improve their Chinese to enjoy Chinese programs on TV or the Internet. Those proficient in Chinese simply want to immerse themselves in a Chinese-speaking environment. Some hope to eventually return to Tibet. Whatever the reason, my students (and other Tibetans I know) have never expressed or harboured animosity toward the Chinese people.
Volunteering and other pursuits such as learning meditation and Buddhism, personal studies and attending Buddhist study retreats enrich my life tremendously. The community as a whole has given me more happiness than I have given time as a volunteer teacher. I examine my priorities in life and my own future in light of the students and the Tibetan community, and often glean fresh perspectives on my own insecurities. Thanks to Lha for the opportunities and having faith in me. This will not be my last visit.
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