Activities

In late December 2019, we began citizenship classes, initially held at the Nepali community center and later in private homes. IPH was exploring options for assisting with transportation needs when the holidays came along. After about three weeks of intermission, the classes were resumed in private homes led by instructors who spoke English and Nepali. (Santwona Khadka, Bipul Khadka, and Pramit Thapa.) In early 2020, we had used limited funding for site rental and instructor fees when Covid 19 changed the course of everything.

In January 2020, Prakash Thapa, IPH president, and Harka Gurung, representing the Harmony Garden Group in High Point, met with Lia Miller Creative Aging Network, North Carolina (CAN-NC) to explore how members of the Harmony Group could participate in the community garden project. However, this turned out to be impractical for the High Point members due to transportation challenges. 

By Spring of 2021, IPH had an opportunity to support its community ​partner, CAN-NC, as well as the Women’s Harmony Group (also recipients of a Community Foundation of  Greater Greensboro (CFGG) Neighborhood Grant. We were pleased that this project engaged other community organizations, including Guilford Urban Farmers Initiative (GUFI) and students from NCA&T, and could be done outside, minimizing exposure to COVID. Outreach to the Congolese community met with less enthusiasm than had been ant​​icipated so the project moved forward in collaboration primarily with participants from the Vietnamese community.

In the summer and early fall of 2021, we were encouraged by IPH co-founder and Board Member Abdul Wahab to implement a tutoring program for Sudanese students at their preferred site, the small Sudanese Center on West Market Street. Initially, Sharin Francis, Pramit Thapa, and Samip Thapa met with a few students to establish connections and find out their learning goals. We set out to expand the program in collaboration with Anna Pannell, Associate Professor of Education Studies at Guilford College. Anna had engaged some of her education students to come to the Sudanese Center on Sunday afternoons from 2-4 pm to help Sudanese students with math and science. However, given ongoing challenges related to coordinating schedules, COVID-19 on campus, site availability conflicts, and transportation logistics, IPH, after transitioning to zoom for a short while, had to discontinue this project.

In March 2023, we donated funds to the Montagnard Dega Association (MDA) to be used for transportation to the 12-week-long Art of English classes held at CAN-NC to strengthen vocabulary and concepts needed for the Citizenship exam. The Board saw this as an effective way to invest our limited resources and in keeping with our goal of partnering with community organizations to address real world challneges faced by those most marginalized.

Beginning in September, 2024 Dr. Jeremy A. Rinker transitioned off the IPH Board to become the organizations executive director. Jeremy’s research and writings have long focused on South Asian communities, untouchability, human rights, and conflict transformation in marginalized communities. With expertise in restorative justice conferencing, circle processes, program development, and social movement organization, Jeremy has helped revise the approach of IPH to focus on responding to all forms of violence towards making Greensboro and the Triad of North Carolina a more livable and welcoming community. As an academic, Jeremy's recent publications include: Identity, Rights, and Awareness: Anti-Caste Activism in India and the Awakening of Justice through Discursive Practices (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018) and  The Guide to Trauma-Informed and Emotionally Mindful Conflict Practice (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2024). 

Currently we are working with community partners to deliver Arts-based Peace-building workshops and trainings and continue to seek opportunities to intervene in social conflict and foreground nonviolence in the Triad region of North Carolina. At this point, the Board of the Institute for Peace and Harmony believes that we can contribute significantly to strong, safe neighborhoods in our community by preventing violence and educating its members on conflict transformation theory and practice. We are grateful to our community partners who have been a steady light in the window to guide us forward.