Biography of Lea Wyler
 Born in Switzerland, Lea pursued a career as an actress. She lived a successful and affluent life; however, on her first trip to India and Nepal in 1980, she was deeply moved by the poverty she encountered there and decided to abandon her career and dedicate her life to helping others. Thus she co-founded the charity ROKPA INTERNATIONAL with Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche. Since then she has devoted all her time to the charity, and spends most of the year travelling internationally fund raising, as well as running the charity’s head office in Zurich.
Lea is noted for the energy and enthusiastic ambition she brings to her work, and is completely dedicated to ROKPA’s message of “helping where help is needed”. She travels regularly to Tibet to check the projects, and spends every winter in Nepal where she oversees the ROKPA Children’s Home, which was set up to house some of the poorest orphans and destitute of the area. The children see Lea as their mother, as do many of the people who come every day to eat at the free soup kitchen nearby. In recent years Lea has become something of a public figure, through a number of newspaper and magazine articles as well as a much-acclaimed TV documentary which has been shown internationally. Wherever Lea goes, she spreads ROKPA’s message of helping others wherever help is needed, and together with a large body of co-workers, many of whom are also voluntary, she raises funds, administrates and develops projects and enables many people both to help and be helped. |
