Two students earn Projects for Peace grant
Prabidhi Malla ’26 and Clara Gonsalves ’25 will study in Nepal and Brazil
Prabidhi Malla ’26 and Clara Gonsalves ’25 will return to their roots this summer to implement ideas for a better future, with the support of Projects for Peace grants.
Malla will return to Nepal to launch an effort aimed at addressing cultural stigmas surrounding menstruation and improve access to menstrual products; Gonsalves will establish a bee farm in Brazil’s quickly disappearing Atlantic Forest to power the preservation of the region’s native plants.
Both students will receive $10,000 grants to support their efforts from Projects for Peace. Created in 2007 by Kathryn Wasserman Davis, the late mother of alumna Diana Davis Spencer ’60, the program funds 125 projects each summer for students who are “developing innovative, community-centered and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues.”
The program is open to undergraduate students enrolled at Wheaton and other colleges that are partner schools of the Davis United World College Scholars Program partner school.
Wheaton students have earned at least one of the awards every year since the grant was created.
Malla, who was born in Nepal and is a biology major and pre-med student, said that her project was inspired by her own experience. When she told her mother about her menstrual bleeding at age 10, she was handed a menstrual pad and instructed to sleep on the floor. Malla later learned that her mother’s reaction reflected South Asian cultural practices.
“This tradition, called Chhaupadi, forces women to isolate themselves during their menstrual cycle,” Malla explained. “Despite Nepal outlawing it in 2005, it continues in many areas. My experience sparked a passion for advocacy.”
She returned to Kathmandu [Nepal’s capital] in 2023 and volunteered in hospitals, enabling her to compare the healthcare systems of Nepal and the United States, which she had experienced first-hand. Recognizing the shortfalls of Nepal’s system led her to create the project proposal.
Malla intends to collaborate with two organizations—Putali Nepal to distribute eco-friendly menstrual products to address the lack of access to such supplies, and the Little Sisters Fund (LSF) to provide health education to disadvantaged girls.
Putali Nepal, an initiative that promotes menstrual health and sustainability, provides eco-friendly menstrual health solutions. The LSF combats injustice and poverty in Nepal through programs that provide access to education, supplies, books, uniforms and mentoring.
“Through a collaboration with LSF, I hope to contribute to their mission of empowering disadvantaged girls with the education and resources they need to thrive,” Malla said. “My ultimate goal is to drive systemic change—not just temporary relief … I want to break the stigma surrounding menstruation and ensure better access to healthcare for all girls.”
In Brazil, Gonsalves hopes to reverse environmental decline in the community by establishing an apiary that will serve as a model for the region’s farmers.
A senior majoring in criminal justice, restorative justice and criminology, Gonsalves has established a connection with Instituto Terra, a non-profit that promotes environmental restoration by combating deforestation and teaching sustainable farming practices to local farmers. She will work with the organization to create a stingless bee apiary, known as meliponiculture, to help sustain the deteriorating Atlantic Forest biome in Brazil. It is estimated that bees account for 90 percent of the region’s pollination.
“This is an affordable practice that pollinates, eliminates pesticides and exudes antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties from produced honey,” Gonsalves said.
Instituto Terra has partnered with Gonsalves’s father and grandmother to revitalize a previously barren mountainous area of Pocrane, Minas Gerais, located about 330 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro. Witnessing this transformation inspired Gonsalves.
“It was important to me to honor my roots, so that’s why I decided to focus my project on Brazil,” she said.
Over the course of six weeks in July and August, Gonsalves will lead a group to construct bee housing on her family’s property, introducing 40 colonies of mandaçaia, jataí, and uruçu species of bees, and acclimating them to their new environment. “Each of the species is either endangered or at risk of extinction, so the project will work toward their repopulation,” she said.
A native speaker of Portuguese, Gonsalves will lead a presentation at the local Pocrane and Ipanema high schools to teach the students about the necessity for stingless beekeeping.
“We will highlight how the stingless bees’ presence is vital to the resurgence of the forest and sustainable agricultural practices will also be introduced. I hope to bring students to visit the bee colonies and teach them about meliponiculture,” said Gonsalves.
“My intent in engaging with meliponiculture is to make it a long-lasting project rooted in love for community, appreciation of my cultural roots, and the environment. I hope that my initiative inspires others to establish their own apiaries.”
Wheaton’s Scholar Development Advisory Committee (SDAC) supports students and recent alumni in applying for a wide range of competitive fellowship opportunities. For more information, visit our Fellowship & Scholarship Development website or email SDAC Coordinator, Professor Winter Jade Werner.