Two Bates College students, Angel Guitcha and Vyshu Viju, have been awarded 2026 Davis Projects for Peace grants to implement humanitarian initiatives this summer in Ghana and India. The announcement was made on April 21. Each student will receive $10,000 to carry out their individual projects.
The Davis Projects for Peace program supports student-led efforts aimed at addressing urgent community needs around the world. This year, the organization is funding 142 projects across 59 countries and seven U.S. states.
Guitcha, a biochemistry major from Accra, Ghana, will coordinate a six-week workshop called “Kayayei Artisan Initiative: Economic Empowerment for Women in Accra.” The project aims to provide craftsmanship training to women porters known as “kayayei,” teaching them skills such as making beaded jewelry and sewing reusable menstrual pads from leftover textile fabric. Guitcha said her motivation stemmed from meeting a young girl working as a kayayoo under difficult circumstances: “That conversation sort of radicalized me. … That was a very difficult conversation to have with someone at that age.” She added, “I’m hoping that they leave their workshops feeling more empowered and more in control of their lives.”
Viju, an Atlanta native majoring in neuroscience, will lead her project “Sustainable Cycles: Integrating Hygiene Equity and Waste Sovereignty in Chelannur” by installing incinerators specifically designed for menstrual waste disposal in Chelannur, India. Viju explained the challenge residents face with current disposal methods: “They’re supposed to collect [their menstrual waste] for two to three months and then throw it away,” she said. “But most people just find that to be a lot of work, and it just takes up too much of their time.” She hopes the new incinerators will reduce pollution while creating sustainable waste management options: “I’m hoping it decreases pollution and creates a more sustainable pathway in the way that trash is done.”
Both students credited staff at Bates’ Harward Center for Community Partnerships with supporting them throughout the application process.
The two projects are scheduled to be completed by September.
