“Good Things Come in Threes”.

By Sune, former writer / January 9, 2023;

This is both true in fairy tale writing and Hollywood blockbuster productions. But also for me personally, as my third visit to Dharamshala in 2012 ended up changing my perspective and setting me on a new trajectory in life, one I’m still fond to tread.

After two brief visits during summer in 2009 and 2011, which both times left me with a huge impression of the region, community, and the larger Tibetan cause, I felt an urge to be involved. To attempt at just the tiniest contribution to help against all the wrongs committed. Therefore, in 2012, I chose to take a leave from my BA studies in Global Studies and Communication, and volunteered as both an English teacher at Lha Charitable Trust, and to write for Contact magazine.

From January 2013 I simultaneously held small English classes to exiled Tibetan monks, and wrote on day-to-day and larger systemic issues stemming from the illegal Chinese occupation of Tibet for Contact. In addition, as I lived in Dharamshala, I experienced, and took part, of the daily life of the city, the religions and cultures of both Indians and Tibetans. Combined, these three aspects allowed me a – for me – unique insight into the experiences of the Tibetans. One that I quickly realised that I can only appreciate and acknowledge from the outside, but never fully understand, having never experienced on my body, and in my country, the wrong-doings they have.

I returned to Denmark after six months, in the summer of 2013. Looking back now, a decade later, it is clear that many of the professional choices I’ve made since have been informed by the experiences I made during my time in Dharamshala, working in Lha and with Contact. I’ve graduated with an MSc in Asian Studies, with a focus on International Relations and Human Rights Violations. I’ve worked in the academic field of Peace and Conflict Studies, and for the last six and a half years I’ve worked in one of the world’s first NGO’s working specifically on anti-torture.

I don’t believe I’d have chosen this path if not for the experiences I had in Dharamshala, for the impressions I received merely by being in the presence of the community, and for all of the honest talks and histories shared in deeply profound interactions with my students, my neighbours and my friends in Dharamshala.