We work to foreground nonviolence and actively intervene in social conflict to build more harmonious communities in the Triad region of North Carolina. By preventing violence and educating community members on conflict transformation, we firmly believe that we can make a significant contribution to creating strong, safe neighborhoods. Currently, we are partnering with local organizations to deliver peace-building workshops and trainings throughout the Triad area. We are grateful to our community partners who have been a steady light in the window to guide us forward.
Want to see how these workshops make an impact?
Check out our photo gallery highlighting an arts-based peacebuilding workshop.
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 NC A&T, and could be done outside, minimizing exposure to COVID. Outreach to the Congolese community met with less enthusiasm than had been anticipated 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).