Last year, three grants were awarded, director of Honors College international engagement Kristin Janka said.

Two of the recipients, criminal justice junior Arhin Acheampong and biochemistry and molecular biology senior Sarah Tresedder, ventured off to Ghana for their different projects.

The purpose of Acheampong’s project was to provide eye health screenings and treatment to prevent curable disease from causing blindness among northern Ghanean children, of whom one in four endure eye problems and one in seven will go blind by age 13, Acheampong said.

More than 1,500 students were reached through eye screenings and glasses donations.

The project hit close to home for Acheampong.

“I decided to do this eye screening project because it was actually a project I personally benefited from while I was in Ghana years ago,” Acheampong said.

The MSU students weren’t alone in their efforts.

Tresedder’s project of providing water to a school in Ghana had help from an organization called African Vibe Ghana, Tresedder said.

“It was great to be able to work with the community directly and know that we were actually giving something they wanted,” Tresedder said.

The third grant was awarded to alumna Trish Abalo, who graduated in spring 2016.

“I’m working with the Michigan State University Global Center for Food Systems Innovation on what’s called the Frugal Innovation Practicum,” Abalo said.

The project’s goal is to form committees among the markets of Lilongwe, Malawi to craft government approved financial strategies to implement construction projects that benefit them, Abalo said.

The project should be done in March or April of 2017, Abalo said.

“It’s really opened up ... my mind, to think about how we as students can build on innovation that’s already going on in communities,” Abalo said. “It’s not just us coming in and proposing ideas or giving money, it’s more so about us working collaboratively, to really focus on how communities can sustainably do this themselves, given a little bit of help.”

The importance of communication was noted across all of the grant recipients’ projects.

It is really important for people to communicate with the communities they work with, Tresedder said, because they are partners and are on the same level as them.

“I really want as many people (as possible), especially people in the Honors College, to take advantage of the grant, to affect lives and try to change communities,” Acheampong said. “Who will, if we don’t?”

Applications for the Schoenl Family Undergraduate Grant for Dire Needs Overseas are due Feb. 25.

There is also an Undergraduate Grant for Dire Needs Overseas that is open to students in any college. The application deadline is Feb. 25.