{"id":2965,"date":"2016-09-30T13:16:49","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T17:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/?page_id=2965"},"modified":"2016-09-30T13:16:49","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T17:16:49","slug":"projects-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/features\/projects-for-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Projects for Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"peacesign\"<\/a>
2015 \u201cInterfaith Harmony,\u201d National Interfaith Harmony Camp, Pakistan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trinity students have played a part in making the world a better place<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Andrew J. Concatelli<\/em><\/p>\n

One project established a computer and study center for children who live with their parents in the San Pedro Prison in La Paz, Bolivia. Another helped construct a maternity ward in the village of Lotima, Tanzania. Yet another used robotics to encourage Arab and Jewish children in Haifa, Israel, to work together toward common goals.<\/p>\n

\"2011<\/a>
2011 \u201cTanzanian Women\u2019s Health,\u201d Tanzania<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For 10 consecutive years, select students from Trinity College have spent a summer designing and implementing Projects for Peace, grassroots efforts to promote peace and to address the root causes of conflict around the world. The projects developed in the past decade by Trinity students have focused on building community, encouraging interfaith understanding, providing access to medical services, and improving lives through art, technology, and education.<\/p>\n

Projects for Peace is an initiative for college students that was launched in 2007 by philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis on her 100th birthday. \u201cMy challenge to you is to bring about a mindset of preparing for peace instead of preparing for war,\u201d Davis said upon establishing the program. Until her death in 2013 at age 106, Davis was intent on advancing the cause of peace and sought to motivate the next generation of world leaders. The Davis family has since chosen to honor her legacy by continuing to fund Projects for Peace each year.<\/p>\n

The opportunity to apply for Projects for Peace funding is given to students who attend higher education institutions that participate in the Davis United World College Scholars Program. Each of these 91 American colleges and universities has the opportunity to compete for at least one $10,000 Projects for Peace award each year. Trinity has received funding for 12 student projects in 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe motivating factor for these students is the sincere desire to make the world a better place,\u201d says Ellen Hart, Trinity\u2019s assistant director of institutional support and the campus liaison to the Davis UWC Scholars Program. \u201cThese projects encompass a spectrum of activities \u2014 from arts programs for children to rainwater harvesting \u2014 and are inspired by a deep sense of service to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bangaloreselectedphoto\"<\/a>
2010 “Using Rainwater to Foster Peace in Bangalore, India<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The College\u2019s decade of involvement in Projects for Peace, administered at Trinity through the Center for Urban and Global Studies, reveals broad and varied definitions of peace, but commonalities are evident across the 12 projects. \u201cIt seems that the overwhelming focus is on young people and education,\u201d Hart says. \u201cChildren are receptive to new ideas and not yet burdened by the stereotypes and attitudes that perpetuate conflict across the world. For example, \u2018Interfaith Harmony\u2019 in Pakistan and \u2018Promoting Peace in the Middle East through Robotics\u2019 focused their efforts on building tolerance in children and inspiring them to question preconceived notions about other groups of people. Even projects that provide infrastructure \u2014 such as the distribution of solar lights in Nepal \u2014 centered around schools because PFP applicants recognize the central\u00a0role that schools play in communities and their power to diffuse new ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

This past summer, the project \u201cGrowing Community through Gardening\u201d took Chris Fusco \u201917, Nico Nagle \u201917, and Jake Villarreal \u201916 to Salinas, California, where they worked with Local Urban Gardeners to create a community garden and learning lab. Their goals were to bring fresh food to a \u201cfood desert,\u201d where healthy, affordable food is difficult or impossible to find, and to divert youth from gang involvement. Theirs was one of six project proposals submitted by Trinity students this year, with most projects involving several students.<\/p>\n

Many of Trinity\u2019s funded proposals come through the Interdisciplinary Science Program, an innovative academic program designed to broaden and enrich the study of science and mathematics by exploring the connections between scientific disciplines and the external world. Alison Draper, director of the Interdisciplinary Science Center and lecturer in interdisciplinary science, asks students in one of her courses to design proposals for the Projects for Peace grant to experience how scientists often fund their work. \u201cEver since the Projects for Peace began, I have used it as a grant-writing assignment in the ISP class, so many students have gone on to submit proposals and do projects,\u201d Draper said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great program.\u201d The 2015 project by Andrew Agard \u201918 and Cassia Armstrong \u201918, \u201cPromoting Peace through Environmental Sustainability,\u201d which involved collecting rainwater in Trinidad and Tobago, began as an assignment for the course.<\/p>\n

Hart says that the globally minded efforts students undertake through Projects for Peace complement the student experience that Trinity strives to provide both inside and outside of the classroom. \u201cProjects for Peace grants enable students to apply the theoretical knowledge they have gleaned in the classroom to real-world problems in need of a solution,\u201d Hart says. \u201cThis translation from classroom to the ground is an eye-opening experience and helps students understand the importance of soft skills in executing a plan.\u201d The students experience and learn from cultural differences, and Hart says that adapting to new situations with flexibility and sensitivity is a skill that the participants will use for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

\"community-panels\"<\/a>
2007 Peace through a Community Approach to Solar Lighting,\u201d Nepal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of the grantees have stayed in touch with their Projects for Peace host sites to follow the lasting impact of their projects over the years, and many have continued their humanitarian work in their careers. Vinit Agrawal \u201910, who, along with Matthew D. Phinney \u201910 and Michael W. Pierce \u201910, received Trinity\u2019s first Project for Peace grant in 2007 for \u201cPeace through a Community Approach to Solar Lighting\u201d in Nepal, said that the project affected him tremendously. \u201cIt was an enriching experience to go back to my home country and work on a project which impacted so many people,\u201d Agrawal says. \u201cThe Davis project definitely inspired me to continue working on various humanitarian projects. Currently I am involved with Refugee Youth Project in Baltimore, and I participate in various mentoring programs with refugee kids settled in Baltimore.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2015 project by Noor Malik \u201918, \u201cInterfaith Harmony,\u201d conducted in her home country of Pakistan, brought together 60 Pakistani teenagers who belong to different religions and sects to engage in a weeklong conflict-resolution program. \u201cMaking a difference for other people is the one thing that I am most passionate about, and being able to do so was a dream come true for me,\u201d Malik says. The project also helped her to define what she wants to do in the future. \u201cFor my career, I plan to integrate international relations, conflict resolution, and human rights,\u201d Malik says. \u201cThere are many particular causes that I want to work for, such as women\u2019s empowerment and minority rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

In just 10 years, Hart says, Projects for Peace has produced life-changing experiences both for the student leaders and the people whose communities are strengthened by the projects. \u201cAlthough the projects are small and the world is so large, these Trinity students make a real and lasting impact on the people they touch,\u201d she says. \u201cA small project in one community can be the spark that inspires others to take a chance or change their attitude. Enough of these sparks will eventually ignite a larger change away from violence and toward peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

THROUGH THE YEARS<\/em><\/p>\n

2007: \u201cPeace through a Community Approach to Solar Lighting,\u201d Nepal \u2014 Vinit Agrawal \u201910, Matthew D. Phinney \u201910, Michael W. Pierce \u201910<\/p>\n

2008: \u201cPeace in Jail,\u201d Bolivia \u2014 Daniela McFarren-Aviles \u201909, Ezel Poslu \u201909<\/p>\n

2009: \u201cPeace through Health Education,\u201d Zambia \u2014 Jacob D. Gire \u201910, Alden C. Gordon \u201910, Michael W. Pierce \u201910<\/p>\n

2010: \u201cPromoting Peace in the Middle East through Robotics,\u201d Israel \u2014 Sarthak Khanal \u201911, Binay Poudel \u201912<\/p>\n

2010: \u201cUsing Rainwater to Foster Peace in Bangalore, India\u201d \u2014 Lam T. Hoang \u201913, David W. Pierce \u201913, Nitin Sajankila \u201913<\/p>\n

2011: \u201cTanzanian Women\u2019s Health,\u201d Tanzania \u2014 Rosalia Abreu \u201911, Ibrahim Diallo \u201911, Sofia Melograno \u201911, Madeleine Shukurani \u201914<\/p>\n

2012: \u201cClearing the Air,\u201d USA \u2014 Erika J. Adams \u201913, Patricia Cavanaugh \u201914, Stephanie Garcia \u201915, Darleny Y. Lizardo \u201912, Tamar A. McFarlane \u201912<\/p>\n

2013: \u201cCreative Smile Creating,\u201d Lithuania \u2014 Aneta Buraityte \u201913<\/p>\n

2014: \u201cSocial Orphans,\u201d Kenya \u2014 Marissa L. Block \u201914, Gaurav Inder S. Toor \u201914<\/p>\n

2015: \u201cInterfaith Harmony,\u201d Pakistan \u2014 Noor Malik \u201918<\/p>\n

2015: \u201cPromoting Peace through Environmental Sustainability,\u201d Trinidad and Tobago \u2014 Andrew Agard \u201918, Cassia Armstrong \u201918<\/p>\n

2016: \u201cGrowing Community through Gardening,\u201d USA \u2014 Chris Fusco \u201917, Nico Nagle \u201917, Jake Villarreal \u201916<\/p>\n

MORE DAVIS TIES<\/em><\/p>\n

Trinity College joined the Davis United World College Scholars Program in 2006 and since then has awarded degrees to 21 scholars from 16 countries across the globe.<\/p>\n

The program was first envisioned by international educator Philip O. Geier and Shelby M. C. Davis, son of Kathryn Wasserman Davis and Shelby Cullom Davis, as a way to continue Kathryn\u2019s commitment to philanthropy and humanitarian work. With Davis\u2019s support, graduates of UWC pre-collegiate academies receive scholarship funds for undergraduate education at select institutions, including Trinity. The College has been an active partner in promoting Davis\u2019s commitment to advancing international understanding and peace through education. While students are admitted based upon their academic merits, the College and the Davis family fully commit to providing the need-based aid necessary to educate these promising scholars and future leaders. This fall, nine scholars are contributing to the stimulating intellectual and social environment on campus. Their presence plays a large role in Trinity\u2019s goals of fostering international cooperation and embracing diversity.<\/p>\n

The College\u2019s relationship with the Davis family also extends to the Shelby Cullom Davis Endowment, which supports scholarship and programs that emphasize American business, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship. Founded by the successful investor and philanthropist Shelby Cullom Davis, the fund endows three professorships, a lecture series, an internship program, the publication of a scholarly journal on private enterprise, and an interdisciplinary minor in formal organizations. Since 1982, the endowment has been shepherded by Gerald A. Gunderson, Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of American Business and Economic Enterprise.<\/p>\n

All photos courtesy of Projects for Peace<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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