THE BOOK THREE CUPS OF TEA HAS INSPIRED MILLIONS...
The Importance of this Effort...
Eighty-one boys attend school in an abandoned truck trailer in Chiltan Village. Afghanistan.
The Pennies for Peace program, as an effort within the Central Asia Institute, is specifically designed to raise money for education projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Not only does this enhance some already existing, though notably frail and very limited village education efforts, but most often establishes new educational opportunities, specifically for girls and young women, who are most often left out of the education process in these cultures.
"My goal is to get thousands of girls--and boys--in schools," writes Greg Mortenson. "If we really want to fight terror, we need solutions. Bombs are [a] mere Band-Aid in the hornet's nest. A major solution is girls' education. I've spent years talking with hardened Islamic clerics here. Without exception they tell me that Islam's holy book, the Quran, does not prohibit girls' education. In fact, it values and encourages education for all people." Many of the tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as much of the Muslim World, believes that the greatest accomplishment for an individual is to create something that outlives the human life of the individual creator. Education provides the mechanism for this development.
"But the Taliban [make] it difficult for children to attend schools. In illiterate areas, opportunistic Islamic mullahs control people by issuing edicts to illiterate people who do not know if the information is true," notes Greg Mortenson. (Excepts taken from Connelly, Joel. Now the U.S. must Fight for Young Afghan Minds. Seattle Post Intelligencer. May 6, 2002.)
WHAT HAS THE CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR...
Pakistan:
THE IMPORTANCE OF POPULATION-CENTRIC ACTIVITIES FOR OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM...
The U.S. military has recruited Greg as a consultant to learn how to better work in conjunction with Afghan tribal leaders. Greg, who with his genial smile and warm handshake, has shown the U.S. military how the battle for the hearts and minds is fought—and won.
"To deprive the Afghan children," Greg says, "is to bankrupt the future of the country and doom any prospects of Afghanistan becoming someday a more prosperous and productive state." [I]f Afghanistan has any chance to become a more prosperous nation it will require the full engagement of its women as part of the process. For that to happen women have to be given access to schools and their education has to be one of the cornerstones of national reconstruction and development. As Greg has said many times, "if you educate a boy, you educate an individual, if you educate a girl, you educate a community." (Khaled Hosseini, author of the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, written in the Forward of Greg's new book Stones into Schools).
It is this focus on the people, specifically the children, and more specifically the girls, that has captured the attention of military units around the World--to include the broadening minds of the young officers of the Xavier University and Miami University Army ROTC programs. Understanding the exploits of Greg Mortenson and the work of the Central Asia Institute enhances the comprehension of Afghan, and Muslim, culture early in the military careers for these young Army officers. A more thorough awareness of this necessity for improvement among the children of Afghanistan and their education better enables these cadets to be successful as they enter into these efforts as commanding officers upon graduation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Central Asia Institute name is used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, expressed or implied, of any product, service, company, or individual. All pictures and quotes are copyrighted by the Central Asia Institute, the Pennies for Peace Program, and Greg Mortenson from his books "Three Cups of Tea" and "Stones into Schools." Reproduction of these images and information must be expressly granted by permission from the Central Asia Institute.
"My goal is to get thousands of girls--and boys--in schools," writes Greg Mortenson. "If we really want to fight terror, we need solutions. Bombs are [a] mere Band-Aid in the hornet's nest. A major solution is girls' education. I've spent years talking with hardened Islamic clerics here. Without exception they tell me that Islam's holy book, the Quran, does not prohibit girls' education. In fact, it values and encourages education for all people." Many of the tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as much of the Muslim World, believes that the greatest accomplishment for an individual is to create something that outlives the human life of the individual creator. Education provides the mechanism for this development.
"But the Taliban [make] it difficult for children to attend schools. In illiterate areas, opportunistic Islamic mullahs control people by issuing edicts to illiterate people who do not know if the information is true," notes Greg Mortenson. (Excepts taken from Connelly, Joel. Now the U.S. must Fight for Young Afghan Minds. Seattle Post Intelligencer. May 6, 2002.)
WHAT HAS THE CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR...
Pakistan:
- 60 schools built, several more supported
- 220+ fully or partially supported teachers
- Teacher training workshops
- School library projects
- 12,149 students, including 6,988 girls
- Computer and typing center
- Maternal health care workshops
- 28 drinking water projects
- 18 schools built, several more supported
- 300+ fully or partially supported teachers
- 14,019 students, including 10,094 girls
- Janchuvlin greenhouse project (Mongolia)
- Mobile rural health education (Mongolia)
- Teacher training scholarship (Kyrgzstan)
THE IMPORTANCE OF POPULATION-CENTRIC ACTIVITIES FOR OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM...
The U.S. military has recruited Greg as a consultant to learn how to better work in conjunction with Afghan tribal leaders. Greg, who with his genial smile and warm handshake, has shown the U.S. military how the battle for the hearts and minds is fought—and won.
"To deprive the Afghan children," Greg says, "is to bankrupt the future of the country and doom any prospects of Afghanistan becoming someday a more prosperous and productive state." [I]f Afghanistan has any chance to become a more prosperous nation it will require the full engagement of its women as part of the process. For that to happen women have to be given access to schools and their education has to be one of the cornerstones of national reconstruction and development. As Greg has said many times, "if you educate a boy, you educate an individual, if you educate a girl, you educate a community." (Khaled Hosseini, author of the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, written in the Forward of Greg's new book Stones into Schools).
It is this focus on the people, specifically the children, and more specifically the girls, that has captured the attention of military units around the World--to include the broadening minds of the young officers of the Xavier University and Miami University Army ROTC programs. Understanding the exploits of Greg Mortenson and the work of the Central Asia Institute enhances the comprehension of Afghan, and Muslim, culture early in the military careers for these young Army officers. A more thorough awareness of this necessity for improvement among the children of Afghanistan and their education better enables these cadets to be successful as they enter into these efforts as commanding officers upon graduation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Central Asia Institute name is used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, expressed or implied, of any product, service, company, or individual. All pictures and quotes are copyrighted by the Central Asia Institute, the Pennies for Peace Program, and Greg Mortenson from his books "Three Cups of Tea" and "Stones into Schools." Reproduction of these images and information must be expressly granted by permission from the Central Asia Institute.
