Greg Mortenson is on a roll. Over the past 17 years, the organization he founded, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), has built ninety-one schools in tribal regions of Pakistan. Nineteen thousand kids in that country — mostly girls — are receiving an education due to the CAI’s efforts. The organization involves local people — including people in positions of power — in the design and construction of these schools. In this way, the CAI fosters a sense of local ownership of the schools, which helps protect CAI schools from Taliban and other reactionary elements who promote radical religious education for boys and no education at all for girls.
Five years ago, the organization expanded its reach into the mountainous border regions of Afghanistan. Those efforts continue to this day.
These and other accomplishments are summarized in a short article that appeared in the November 22 issue of Parade magazine, a publication that is distributed in many Sunday newspapers. Parade has been chronicling Greg Mortenson’s efforts for several years, thereby giving the CAI much-needed exposure among a broad mainstream audience. That coverage greatly increased the CAI’s donor-base, allowing the organization to expand its program and area of operation.
The CAI’s efforts are perhaps the most effective way to fight terrorism. Ignorant, poor, hungry, vulnerable people make good recruits for terrorist organizations. Educating children helps innoculate them against extremist indoctrination. Educating girls helps strengthen communities and build a just society.
The U.S. and NATO military leadership is beginning to learn these lessons, as indicated by their increased attention to the Central Asia Institute’s work. Let’s hope they come to rely more on the CAI and less on the other organization that has similar initials.
The article concludes with an announcement of Mortenson’s new book Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Other Parade articles about Greg Mortenson and the CAI
- He Fights Terror With Books, April 6 2003
- With Your Help, He’s Fighting On, February 29 2004
- Another Way To Stop Terrorism, March 5 2006
- Photo Essay: Building Schools in Taliban Country, July 15 2009
