Projects for Peace Grant to Help
Students Launch Maternal Health
Program in Honduras

Ashley Baugh '10 and Greer Donley '09 have been jointly awarded a prestigious $10,000 grant from the Davis Projects for Peace initiative for their program aimed at developing and implementing a maternal healthcare program for a hospital in rural Honduras.
Baugh and Donley plan on starting a public health campaign for pregnant women and mothers in the town of Intibuca, a region beset with the worst maternal health in all of Honduras. The country itself has the fifth-worst maternal health in the entire western hemisphere.
"Maternal health problems in Honduras include maternal mortality, infant mortality, maternal malnutrition, child malnutrition, teen pregnancy, lack of contraceptives, lack of access to skilled birthing attendants and an inability to attain health services in general," Donley says.
The two CMC students will work with women, through cooking and workshops, to improve education on dietary and nutritional issues. They will also run a parallel program for local children, helping them learn basic health and safety and achieving a balanced diet.
"We really tried to focus on sustainability for this project and making a program that does not require ongoing financial support, so that hopefully the area hospital will continue the program long after we leave," Baugh says. "Our proposal tries to address issues like malnutrition, creating a balanced diet and such, while also taking into account what foods are available, both geographically and economically. Furthermore, we hope this will provide a forum for women to discuss social issues like the use of contraceptives, abuse, and other concerns."
Baugh hopes that by working one-on-one with the Intibuca women through cooking (in a more informal and social setting), they will be able to initiate a forum where ideas for better health can be more effectively discussed and incorporated into their lives.
Donley's previous work in Honduras (she worked in Intibuca over the last two summers) largely inspired the ideas for this program. "I have been working with maternal healthcare for two years, focusing on Honduras, so my heart lies with the women there," Donley says. "Together, we worked to use her (Donley's) experience and knowledge of public health and my anthropological studies to develop a program that we hope will be culturally sensitive and effective, which will address a very pressing need in Honduras," Baugh adds.
According to Abby Flores, associate director of foundation and corporate relations at CMC, Baugh and Donley have a clear passion for what they are doing and are thankful for the wonderful opportunity afforded by the Davis Grant.
"I'm always amazed by the creativity of CMC students as they prepare these Projects for Peace proposals; their desire to help less fortunate communities often leads to a truly innovative approach to solving the problem," Flores says. "We had a particularly strong group of applications for this summer, many of which were viable contenders for funding. Greer and Ashley presented a unique and well-thought out plan that will no doubt have a great impact on the women in Intibuca, Honduras, for quite some time."
Now in its third year, the Davis Projects for Peace initiative is the brainchild of philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis. University students from nearly 100 campuses will collectively receive more than $1 million in funding during the summer of 2009 for projects in all regions of the world.
Now 102 years old, Mrs. Davis launched the initiative on the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2007 with a challenge to today's generation of college students to undertake innovative and meaningful projects.
Designed to encourage and support motivated youth to create and implement their ideas for building peace throughout the world in the 21st century, each of the more than 100 projects receives $10,000 in funding.
Davis Projects for Peace invited all students from partner schools in the Davis United World College (UWC) Scholars Program plus students at International Houses worldwide and Future Generations to submit plans for grassroots projects for peace, to be implemented during the summer of 2009.