Prior to the pandemic our Tibetan partners at Lha Charitable Trust hosted approximately twelve international groups annually. The staff coordinates volunteer activities, provide cultural and educational opportunities, and arrange accommodations and meals. Groups have traditionally been limited to a maximum of 12 participants in order to assure personalized experiences for all participants. Donations made by these groups to Lha Charitable Trust have been a major funding source which keeps the organization functioning, and has been crucial to our Tibetan friends since the first Tulane University student group visited in 2002. Group trips have played a major role in the sustainability and self-sufficiency Lha Charitable Trust. Thank you groups and group leaders!

Group Trips with Lha Charitable Trust over the past 20 years: Volunteer and/or Cultural Exchange

For more information about joining an upcoming group, or putting together a group for yourself or your organization, contact us via email at lha.neworleans@lhanola.com. 

Below are a few of the many groups that have been organized through different universities, organizations and/or individual group leaders:

Tulane Center for Public Service CPS – Undergraduates
Tulane Medical School – Medical students
Tulane School of Social Work - MSW students
Loyola University Study Abroad – Undergraduates
Loyola School of Nursing - Graduate nursing students
LSU Medical School - Medicaled students
Centenary College of Louisiana - Undergraduates
Ochsner Medical Center of Louisiana – Integrative Medicine
Ochsner of Louisiana - Mindful Medicine Conference for MDs
Louisiana/Mississippi Hospice and Palliative care organization
HCLA (Home Care Association of Louisiana) - for Homecare Nurses
Tibetan Footsteps – Mindfulness Trek across the Himalayas
Tibetan Buddhism and Mindfulness/meditation Training Groups

Funds generated by groups help to benefit LHA projects in India. The Louisiana Himalaya Association (LHA) does not organize, coordinate or in any way have responsibility for group trips to India. Groups are the responsibility of the universities, organizations, and/or individuals who put the groups together and once in India are hosted fully or partially by Lha Charitable Trust in Dharamsala, India.

"More than 15 years ago, volunteering with LHA changed the trajectory of my development as a physican. I returned on these group trips three times since, and worked with other international social work and health organizations. I find LHA’s approach to be unique and rare. LHA ensures that Western involvement does no harm, utilizing donated time and resources prudently, and focusing on long-term relationships. LHA has a long, successful history of simultaneously helping Tibetan exile communities, and exposing Westerners to a culture which has much to teach."
–Shuchin Shukla, MD, MPH