Teen Camp in Macedonia
In 2002, Rupa was invited to Macedonia to teach Peace Dance and to inspire two groups of Macedonian, Albanian and Roma teenagers to their own ethnic dances. Having a passion for Balkan Dance made Rupa an appropriate elder. While there she witnessed many transformations as she photographed and helped to document the camps. Her mentors all had studied at the School For International Training under Paula Green who works internationally doing Peace Building through the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding .
Susie Belleci, Vahidin Omanovic, and Jan Passion skillfully opened the hearts and minds of these teens, Rupa got them to dance.
Peace Building in Bosnia
Vahidin Omanovic invited Rupa to his NGO CENTAR ZA IZGRADNJU MIRA (Center for Peace) in Bosnia for two years to particiapte in adult camps there. Serbians, Croatians and Muslems were training to be peace builders, they worked played and danced together opening their minds and hearts to each other and to peace.
Back in the US and the Brattleboro Vermont area
Having witnessed the power of Conflict Transformation, Rupa was given permission to bring some of the processes she learned at the camps. In workshops and talks with a slide show, Rupa has presented Conflict Transformation, from Revenge to Reconciliation, to groups in Putney, to the Associated Psychologists of Vermont and to the annual Conference on Rubenfeld Synergy.
With building peace a passion, Rupa has become a community leader in the Tikkun Community, and the Network For Spiritual Progressives. Closer to home, Rupa facilitates the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Initiative and helps to produce events that bring together people of faith and spiritual seekers to issues that affect us all, from the Abrahamic Family Reunion and Mother's Day Interfaith Peace Celebration to Spirituality and the Ecology with the Manitou Project to name a few.