Presentations recap Projects for Peace

Author: Tim O'Grady

On Nov. 7, The Rohatyn Center for International Affairs hosted "Projects for Peace Presentations" at the Robert A. Jones '59 House. This International Studies colloquium featured six Middlebury students, who discussed various humanitarian projects they participated in this past summer.

Nine students took part in four projects that tackled an array of international problems. Two of the projects, "Giving Afghan People Access to Clean Water" and "Healing the Rift" were both funded by Davis Projects For Peace, while the other projects, "Humans, Animals and Peace: Different Sides of the Same Triangle" and "Student Friends of Tibetan Refugees" received funding from Middlebury and elsewhere.

Projects For Peace is a program initiated by philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis in which students are encouraged to design their own grassroots projects that tackle global issues and strive to bring peace to the world. Davis launched this program last year on her 100th birthday by committing $1 million to one hundred various projects. This year Davis extended the program by donating another $1 million to fund a whole new set of projects.

"Giving Afghan People Access to Clean Water" was a project launched by Shabana Basij-Rasikh '11. Basij-Rasikh is an international student from Afghanistan who wanted to reach out and help the people of her nation first-hand. The main focus of her project was to provide Afghans with clean drinking water. Many Afghans must travel great distances to collect water or drink the water from contaminated streams. After receiving additional funding for her project, Basij-Rasikh was able to build nine wells instead of the six wells that she initially intended to build.

The most gratifying part of Basij-Rasikh's experience was the Afghan people's appreciation and dedication to maintain the wells.

"People were so passionate about having clean water. A lot of people promised to keep [the wells] sustained," said Basij-Rasikh.

Nicholas Alexander '10, Alexander Kent '10, Shujaat Ali Khan '10, Saad Ahmed Khan '10 and Caroline Towbin '10 initiated another project sponsored by Davis Projects For Peace entitled "Healing the Rift." Their primary goal was to host an event in New York City to promote common values and solidarity between Muslims and the Western world. The event took place in Washington Square Park and featured a slew of musical performances and speakers. Shujaat Ali Khan and Saad Ahmed Khan showed a documentary film that contained clips from the actual event as well as interviews with the students.

"The whole point of this is to generate optimism for rebuilding and creating new relationships between the Muslim world and the West. This is just a starting point," said Towbin in the documentary.

Lisa Mariko Gretebeck '10 and Prerna Seth '10 received funding from Middlebury to jump-start their project entitled "Humans, Animals and Peace: Different Sides of the Same Triangle." These two students created their very own micro-finance organization, called AMAR, which was started in collaboration with the Comprehensive Rural Health Project in Jamkhed Village, India. Their ultimate objective was to "empower marginalized women living in poverty, to improve their sense of livelihood and build a sense of ownership" through raising goats. The participating women had to sign contracts which gave them a two-year window to pay back their loans. The simplicity of the contract gave the women a lot of flexibility and independence in the repayment aspect.

"It was important to us that our pilot run was successful because that would establish some credibility and more people would want to join" said Seth.

Tenzing Sherpa '10 and Matthew Vaughan '09 led a project this past summer, "Student Friends of Tibetan Refugees," funded by the College. Sherpa and Vaughan set up a volunteer relationship in Nepal between a school for Tibetan students and a house for elderly Tibetan refugees. Students were able to interview the elders and hear their stories, then write a biography about the person they got to know. They established a medical fund at a home for th elderly and visited a remote, underfunded school. Sherpa and Vaughan helped to set up a scholarship fund at this school to help pay for food, writing utensils and boarding so that the children could live with a family closer to the school.