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Tibetan Culture

Dharamshala, India

Notes

This is a group project with open dates which can be decided mutually between the partners. The duration of the group workcamp is 7 days including arrival and departure dates.

In partnership with

RUCHI NGO


Description of the Work

The volunteers would visit Tibetan monasteries, museum, schools and join language classes with Tibetan monks. The Tibetan schools will tell stories of their fleeing and about Tibetan culture. There is a likelihood that we may take up some cleanliness work or some other activity. Otherwise, this visit will be more of touristic with leisurely walks and culture sharing.

Through this project we aim to provide volunteers with an enriching (rural & urban) experience where they would participate in our ongoing rural community development initiatives aimed at uplift of marginalized people and later move to McLeodganj, Dharamshala where Tibetan Government in exile has its head quarters. Volunteers here would get chance to increase their understanding about Tibetan Culture, their movement and their ongoing struggle to keep their identity alive.


Accommodation & Food

Volunteers will stay in a private Guest House in Dharamkot, 2 km away from main McLeodganj market on twin/triple sharing basis. Bed and beddings are provided. Simple basic amenities will be available. Though cooked authentic Indian vegetarian meals will be served volunteers are expected to assist the cook.


Location & Leisure

Dharamkot in McLeodganj, Dharamshala, the headquarters of Tibetan Government in exile in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Dharamshala is well known as a much sought after tourist attraction. The volunteers can visit a water fall in Bhagsu, visit a church, Lord Shiva Temple and many other monasteries.


Requirements

As the project requires lot of walking and sight seeinb, the volunteers is required to have full physical mobility. Otherwise, no specific skills are required excepot interest in other cultures.


Appointment

Dharamkot square


Host Organization

Rural Centre for Human Interests (known as RUCHI, which means ‘interest’ in Hindi) came into being as a non-profit, voluntary organization in October 1980, set up in the Himalayan foothills of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, INDIA. RUCHI is legally registered under Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860. Presently, RUCHI head office is located in a new complex called the Technology Resource Centre (TRC). The office a centre of technology transfer came into force, in the year 1994 as an extension program of CAPART, of the Ministry of Rural Development. The objective is to promote, develop and modify the rural technologies. Situated in the hills of Solan district in Bandh village, this centre has been the hub of all activities. RUCHI has focused through the years on promoting sustainable anthropocentric development through empowerment – by providing assistance and technical support to the underprivileged, showing them the way to minimize dependence and thus attain a better life – rather than just through charity. RUCHI’s founders felt there was a need for a committed workforce to initiate the process of development at the grassroots level, encouraging individual and community participation in the process.