Kathryn Wasserman Davis made a birthday wish for peace on Earth.
For her 100th birthday, Wasserman Davis decided to commit $1 million to fund 100 different projects for peace.
Tracy Reeves, the coordinator of the selection process for UF students, hosted an informational session Monday night for Davis Projects for Peace and will host another session Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Room 202 of Peabody Hall.
Projects for Peace are grassroots projects that can be implemented anywhere in the world, according to the organization’s Web site. The project is up to the students, but the foundation encourages creativity and a worldwide scope.
Past projects from UF students include planting trees in Swaziland and providing more protein to citizens’ diets and a potable water system in Uganda.
All undergraduates who attend Davis United World College Scholars Program partner schools are eligible to design a project.
The Davis foundation chose UF student Ali Zuaiter’s project on Palestine last year.
Originally from Jordan, the economics senior focused his project on giving microloans to Palestinian women.
Over the summer, Zuaiter and two other UF students worked to select deserving students from schools in Palestine to receive the loans. The first loans were just dispersed a few weeks ago, he said.
Students have two pages to explain the background of their idea, the project they hope to implement and a detailed budget showing how they will use the $10,000 if chosen.
Proposals are judged based on creativity, connection to the student’s education, sustainability, scope, appropriate use of resources and overall impact.
“We want to know that it’s something that will last beyond the summer of 2010,” Reeves said.
After she reviews the drafts, students have until Jan. 8 to submit their final proposals, which are judged by a committee.
Two are submitted to the national level and the winners receive their funds at the end of the spring semester.
In the three years that UF has submitted projects, five have been funded, according to Reeves.
“You can achieve peace in so many different ways,” Zuaiter said.
To learn more about Projects for Peace or to see projects that have won in the past, go to the Web site at www.davisprojectsforpeace.org or www.leadershipandservice.ufl.edu/programs/100projects.
