SCN 1000 Change Agent Series- Niphasone Souphom

SCN Change Agent Interview Series - Meet Niphasone Souphom.

The SC Nebula is a global online (and offline - Washington, DC area) hub where conscious leaders from corporate, spiritual, nonprofit and civic groups can connect, collaborate and create more social impact together.

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In an effort to promote global champions of change, we have set an extraordinary goal of interviewing 1000 people this year who are change agents in their communities.
Tune in as our interview guests share how they are contributing their gifts, skills, experiences, resources and wisdom to create a better world. Learn about the different causes and initiatives they care about. If theses causes resonate with you, reach out to our interviewees and offer up your superpowers.

Niphasone Souphom is born in Sayphone, Laos in 1977. She immigrated to the United States of America in 1986 with her family. She grew up in South Bend, WA and moved to the Washington D.C metropolitan area in the year 2000 where she currently resides with her husband and two sons. She was the first person in her family to achieve higher education. She graduated from Ohio University with a Masters of Arts in International Studies in the area of Southeast Asia and a Master of Science in Mild and Moderate Disability from John Hopkins University. She is current a special education resource teacher at Catherine T. Reed Elementary School. She has been working and teaching students with disability for the past 15 years. She is also one of the founding member and the current president of the Lao Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit, organization with a mission to promote, preserve, and transmit Lao culture through the arts.

The Lao Heritage Foundation (LHF) is based in the Washington, DC area as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to preserve and promote Lao culture.
Below are descriptions of our programs:

Summer Camp Program
In addition to teaching music and dance year-round in the Washington, D.C. area, LHF runs a summer camp program in several communities across the U.S. We create standardized music education system (notation and teaching techniques), train teachers, directly teach students, and coordinate with master musicians and community leaders. Since 2006, we have grown from just a few students to nearly 200 students across the U.S., plus another 250 in Luang Prabang, Laos

The master musicians with whom we partner include National Heritage Fellow Bounxeung Synanonh (kaen), Thongtanh Souvannaphanh (poetry and strings), Sengdeuan Phengkeo (lanahd, kong wong, percussions, strings), Chy Her (lanahd, kong wong, percussions, strings), and Sinthavong Sengmounthong (lanahd, kong wong, percussions, strings, kaen).

Music Notation Program
As Lao music is traditionally taught by ear, this art is in grave danger of fading away. As an ongoing effort, LHF is notating music and producing recordings of our partnering music masters. These steps will not only help to preserve the music, as but also to facilitate the teaching of it more on our sheet music, sor, kaen

Fine Arts
We partner with Prince Nithakhong Somsanith, who documents and showcases the many treasures of Laos through his uniquely exquisite paintings and the royal art of gold-thread embroidery.
Lastly, we partner a very talented artist/animator, Nor Sanavongsay, who works tirelessly to preserve (and promote) Xieng Mieng stories. Xieng Mieng is a witty folklore character well-loved by Laotians for many centuries.

Contact Niphasone: [email protected] Visit: https://LaoHeritageFoundation.org

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