Day 4: A Promise Kept

Image courtesy of Central Asia Institute

I read Three Cups of Tea several years ago, and remember being inspired by Greg Mortenson's story.  While our country was in the middle of a war, it was refreshing to see how one man was able to radically impact a region by acting on a single promise.  

"While recovering from the climb in a village called Korphe, Mortenson met a group of children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks in the sand, and made a promise to help them build a school.  From that rash promise, grew a remarkable humanitarian campaign, in which Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Greg Mortenson established the Central Asia Institute (CAI) to support the work he started in Pakistan and Afghanistan.   From their September newsletter, they have now built a total of 164 schools and have 68,000 students, 56,000 of which are girls in a culture where most girls often aren't educated.   But his vision has evolved beyond only bringing education to those without access, he and CAI are also providing support and rehabilitation to the areas recently devastated by flooding.

"Deeply concerned by this (flooding in Pakistan), Greg Mortenson and CAI sent funds to set up three relief camps. CAI's staff fed thousands, provided shelter, helped rebuilt homes and provided immediate aid in where the flood has affected those in the CAI projects villages. CAI also funded a Flood Relief Committee of local political, religious and NGO leaders and commissioners that assessed the damage and reported a way to streamline the process of local organizations working together for long-term relief. This committee, along with CAI's Pakistan staff, will take over long term responsibility to manage the refugee camps while we also continue with our main mission of educating rural children, especially girls. As with the Pakistan earthquake rehabilitation, which CAI is still doing; we will pursue long term rehabilitation and provide continuing support to the victims of the flood. To donate for the victims of the flood, CAI is providing a list of organizations that are dependable and specifically aiding flood relief victims. Imran Khan Foundation http://imrankhanfoundation.org/ Zindagi Trust: www.zindagitrust.org Edhi Foundation: http://www.edhifoundation.com/ International Rescue Committee: IRC http://www.theirc.org/ Islamic Relief: http://www.islamicreliefusa.org/home Human Development Foundation: www.hdf.com UNHCR and Angelina Jolie's visit: www.unhcr.org/4c8609926.html UNESCO http://www.unesco.org/new/en/pakistan-flood-response/ For more information: http://ndma.gov.pk/index.html"

Information for this blog entry was taken from The Three Cups of Tea and Central Asia Institute websites.