unseen dharamsala: Lhamo

I landed on this blue planet in 1983. As soon as I opened my eyes I understood I was a nomad because I was surrounded by yaks and sheep of various colors. When I was a young girl my loving parents sent me to look after our animals. While I heard stories about schools I never saw one. I don't blame my parents because they lacked an education and resources. When I turned 17 I had a new idea. I decided to go to India to study and to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I escaped with 38 people by walking across the Himalayas. The journey took several months and was the most difficult experience of my life. When I arrived in Dharamsala I went to school but after only one year I stopped because I became very sick. I had no relatives here and missed my caring family. When I thought of them tears flooded my eyes. Gradually my health and homesickness became better. Thanks to His Holiness the Dalai Lama we have many facilities and opportunities to study. I have studied here for a few years learning Tibetan history and English. English has become my main focus because it is a universal language. I am also now learning to read and write in Tibetan which was something that I could not learn in Tibet.
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Dharamsala

Dharamsala is a small town in north India, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. In 1960, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, offered upper Dharamsala to the Tibetan refugees. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, fleeing persecution in Tibet, made it his home in exile as well as the home of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.
Today streams of Tibetan refugees flock to Dharamsala to receive blessings and teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Tibetans in Dharamsala have the rare opportunity to maintain their unique culture. New arrivals are offered free education. Schools teach Tibetan history and Buddhist philosophy as well as the Tibetan language. Dozens of cultural centers have sprung up for the preservation and study of traditional medicine, thangka painting, wood carving, folk opera, music, astrology, handicrafts and much more. For further information on Dharamsala visit http://www.tibet.com/

UNSEENWORLD

UNSEENWORLD is an innovative international arts project for workers and refugees to describe their lives through photography. Participants learn to become seen while they document their communities.

The core of the program is a series of free photography workshops. Workers and refugees receive cameras and photography instruction while engaging in discussions about self-representation. Participants tell their stories through the photographs they take.

UNSEENWORLD is an expansion of unseenamerica, a project created in order to add the vision of workers to the vision of society. unseenamerica was conceived 6 years ago by Esther Cohen the Executive Director of the Bread & Roses Cultural Project of 1199SEIU, a 30-year old non-profit.

For more information about unseenworld contact Zoeann Murphy Zoeann.Murphy[at] gmail.com

Lha Community Center

Lha is a Tibetan word that refers to the innate goodness in human beings. Lha India is a Tibetan run non-profit language school & community center in Dharamsala. Lha hosted the UNSEENWORLD photography project.

The primary goal of Lha is to facilitate an easy transition for the Tibetan community in exile and sustain a long-term resource center that provides educational, cultural and social services to the refugees in north India. Lha programs currently include free language and computer training, medical assistance, cultural exchanges, clothing and clean water projects and more. To donate or volunteer please visit lhaindia.org.

unseen dharamsala

Lhamo

Photographers

Teachers

Dharamsala

UNSEENWORLD

Lha Community Center