‘I can be more impactful in a place that doesn’t have a lot’
In Kamathipura, the streets are congested and noisy. This neighborhood in Mumbai, India, is one of the largest and oldest red-light districts in all of Asia.
Toral Banerjee ’28, a computer science and mathematics major, grew up in Mumbai and is well aware of the marginalization of people in Kamathipura. Inspired to support the children of sex workers in the area through teaching financial literacy, consent classes, and helping youths understand their rights, she pursued and earned funding from a Projects for Peace grant.
Projects for Peace annually awards 125 or more students with a $10,000 grant to develop innovative, community-centered, and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues. Banerjee is among the 2026 cohort of awardees, who are carrying out their projects this summer in 59 countries and seven U.S. states.
Banerjee’s project is titled Zanjeer Tod: Nayi Pehchan (Breaking the Chains: A New Identity). Her goal is to uplift teens, primarily ages 14-17, who are living in the red-light district and give them the tools to empower themselves. The project began in May and continues through July. However, Banerjee wants to continue the work beyond July with the help of two partner organizations: Prerana, which focuses on anti-trafficking in Mumbai, and the Udaan Foundation, which offers logistical support.
“We’re going to start with basic financial literacy for the kids then slowly progress to providing lessons about consent,” Banerjee told ClarkNOW prior to the end of the spring semester. Banerjee planned to have a financial manager deliver a talk on financial literacy, as well as provide sources of educational interactive technology such as videos.
Banerjee wants to teach the teens about finding avenues to success through the creation of their own start-up companies. The lessons will include having the teens learn to crochet and then sell their creations. “Once they learn financial literacy skills, they can actually implement them and develop their business skills via crocheting,” she said.
“Clark has a very tight-knit community and a lot of opportunities to better the world.”
Banerjee grew up in the Mumbai suburbs and recalls the economic inequality she witnessed, with wealthy people thriving in areas not far from Kamathipura, where people struggled to get by. She volunteered for an organization called Kranti, assisting children from Kamathipura. She recalls meeting a child who was bullied because their mother was a sex worker, and realized how this section of society was so readily dismissed. She felt motivated to do something.
“I got to learn so much for them,” she said. “I understood their roots, and that helped me design the project and see what is excluded from them.”
Banerjee learned about the Projects for Peace opportunity in an email from Steven Moon, director of special academic opportunities. She says Moon provided encouragement and support while she completed the application over the winter break. “There were a lot of drafts throughout break that perfected the entire proposal at the end.”
This Projects for Peace grant will help the local community in a number of ways. In addition to the lessons for teens, the funding will go toward needed repairs in classrooms.
“I feel like I can be more impactful to a place that doesn’t have a lot,” said Banerjee, who plans to return to Mumbai after graduating. “There are a lot of villages that lack basic education, especially for girls, so I really want to introduce coding to them.”
Currently, Banerjee is a teaching assistant for the Department of Mathematics and a peer learning assistant for the Department of Computer Science.
“It’s overwhelming at times but also surreal, because when someone comes for help, I can see myself in that student,” she said. “I try my best to be patient, kind, and to help figure out their problems.”
Clark’s small size is a huge advantage in finding mentorship and opportunities, Banerjee said.
“Clark has a very tight-knit community and a lot of opportunities to better the world,” she said. “That supportive community helps me to be the better version of myself.”
Banerjee hopes to launch a start-up post-graduation. “Clark’s Computer Science Department has helped me a lot,” she said. “In terms of their labs and incubators, it has definitely helped me bring my ideas into life.”
