A List
4/9/07

SLU STUDENTS WIN '100 PROJECTS FOR PEACE' GRANTS

CANTON - The Kathryn Wasserman Davis 100 Projects for Peace program has announced that students from 65 colleges and universities will receive funding to undertake their proposed projects. Philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, established the new program with a donation of one million dollars so that each of the projects will receive $10,000. The objective of the program is to encourage and support motivated youth to create and implement their ideas for building peace throughout the world in the 21st century.

KWD 100 Projects for Peace invited all students from schools participating in the Davis United World College (UWC) Scholars Program to submit a plan for their own grassroots projects for peace that the students themselves would implement during the summer of 2007. A competition for the funding took place on 65 of the 76 campuses in the UWC Scholars Program, which provides grants to select American colleges and universities in support of students from all over the world who have completed their pre-university studies at UWC schools.

"We are very grateful to all the students who submitted proposals and the many faculty and staff on all those campuses across the country who played a part in evaluating and submitting the students' work," said Executive Director of the Davis UWC Scholars Program Philip O. Geier. "Mrs. Davis, who just turned 100 years old in February, sends her congratulations to all the students for their creativity and commitment. She feels this is a wonderful way to celebrate her birthday."

The winning projects propose specific plans of action that will have lasting effects - from youth empowerment and education programs to improved community water supplies worldwide to a multitude of agrarian enterprises in countries where famine is pervasive. Students will travel to more than 40 countries over the summer to implement their projects and report on their experiences once they return.

The two approved projects from St. Lawrence students are:

- "Providing Water, Empowering the Samburu Women," Alice Lenanyokie '07, of Kenya, and Mukhaye Muchimuti '08, of Kenya. The project involves drilling a well to serve approximately 1,000 people in the Samburu District of Kenya; traditionally, searching for and providing water is the responsibility of women in this arid region, a task which requires so much time that it prevents women from pursuing work that could provide income.

- "Building a Brighter Future for Kids at the Amazing Grace Children's Center," Alexander Tedeschi ' 07, of Jamesville, New York, and Shazia Shahnaz '09, of Bangladesh. The project involves providing educational supplies and program enhancements to the Amazing Grace Children's Center, a shelter in Malelane, South Africa, as well as on-site support by Tedeschi and Shahnaz.

Mrs. Davis, an internationalist and philanthropist and the mother of Shelby M.C. Davis, who funds the Davis UWC Scholars Program, said, "I want to use my 100th birthday to help young people launch some immediate initiatives - things that they can do during the summer of 2007 that will bring new thinking to the prospects of peace in the world."

A complete list of the winning schools and projects, as well as a video interview with Mrs. Davis from 2006, is available on the program's Web site at www.kwd100projectsforpeace.org.

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More information: Global Studies at St. Lawrence

Center for International and Intercultural Studies