Building peace throughout the world is the goal of two Cornell student projects that have received funding from an international philanthropy program.

The Kathryn Wasserman Davis 100 Projects for Peace program, which invited proposals from schools participating in the Davis United World College (UWC) Scholars Program, has awarded grants to Cornell engineering students Sarah Long '09 and Kobbina Awuah '07 for a water well project in Ghana and to agriculture and life sciences student Paul Omole Adebayo '07 for a small business and AIDS outreach program in Nigeria.

Philanthropist Davis, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, established the 100 Projects for Peace with a donation of $1 million, so that each of the projects will receive $10,000.

The objective of the program is to encourage and support students in implementing ideas for building peace throughout the world in the 21st century. Student projects from 65 colleges and universities received awards.

Engineering students Long and Awuah plan to design and install two water-pumped wells in the Bawku district of Ghana. Their project, Development Project for Peace in the Bawku East District of Ghana, will involve members of local, often warring tribes. By having the tribes collectively build a water pump to provide a basic necessity, the students hope to inspire the Ghanaians to work toward peace.

Adebayo, a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, developed a proposal called Peace in the Motherland. One component of his project, Urban Microcredit Peace Initiative, aims to establish a handful of small-scale businesses in Lagos, Nigeria. A separate component, The Concerned Women Ministry Support Program, will support outreach to Nigerian women suffering from poverty and HIV/AIDS.

A complete list of the winning schools and projects and a 2006 video interview with Davis are available on the program's Web site at http://www.kwd100projectsforpeace.org.