Greg Mortenson

FORT DRUM — In 1993, Greg Mortenson made a promise to a Pakistani girl.

“She came up to me and said, ‘Can you help us build a school?’” he said.

Mr. Mortenson, founder of Central Asia Institute and the Pennies for Peace campaign, said the young girl was one of 84 pupils, probably in the second grade. He said the children sat on the cold ground and wrote with sticks and mud on wood tablets. There was no building, no teacher.

“I made a promise that day. I said, ‘I promise I’ll build a school for you,’” he said. “And I didn’t know it changed my life forever.”

Since that promise, Mr. Mortenson has dedicated his life to promoting education by establishing more than 130 elementary schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has helped educate more than 58,000 children, including 48,000 girls.

He is author of two New York Times bestseller books: “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time” and “Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

This year’s Pennies for Peace campaign ran Jan. 11 to Feb. 26, and 24 local elementary schools participated in the fundraiser. All of the copper was combined and a check for $8,000.01 was presented to Mr. Mortenson Saturday afternoon at the Commons at Dillenbeck’s Corners. He was the guest speaker for the 2010 Women’s Conference, sponsored by the Officers’ Spouses Club.

Conference chairwoman Heather Sutton said Mr. Mortenson was asked to speak at the conference because he celebrates women and girls’ education.

“Last summer I was reading ‘Three Cups of Tea’ and it just seemed like the perfect pairing of a women’s conference and having Greg Mortenson come speak,” she said.

Sister Annunciata Collins, principal of Carthage Augustinian Academy, said her school raised $615.

“It means we are reaching out and helping in a very special way,” she said. “Mr. Mortenson’s work helps to educate children and build peace for future years.”

Mr. Mortenson said peace can be achieved through education.

“I was told that the ink of a scholar is greater than the blood of a martyr,” he said. “If we don’t educate girls, nothing will change in a society.”

The Rev. Amy Kay, Camden, said she is trying to get a Pennies for Peace campaign started in her community.

“This is how we get peace,” she said. “We have to reach beyond our borders in this way. In the sense that it is hands-on, it’s nongovernmental.”

Annette M. Connolly, vice principal of Immaculate Heart Central elementary in Watertown, attended the conference with Kim A. Murrock, school secretary.

“Children for children is our focus,” Ms. Connolly said. “When they can see the relevance of what they have to what somebody else might need, it makes it more real.”

“When kids see a penny for a pencil, it’s on their level,” Ms. Murrock said.

Ethan R. Loeb, a fifth-grader at IHC, said his class raised about $300 for the campaign.

“I think we should help Pakistan and Afghanistan because a lot of people are poor and they don’t have enough schools and a lot of stuff like we do,” he said. “We should give money to them so they can have the stuff like we do.”

His brother, Nicholas P., was involved with the program last year. He said it is important to continue supporting the foundation and “helping the schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan stay alive and keep control.”

“There are many people in this world that are less fortunate than us,” Nicholas said. “And it just isn’t fair to them.”

Mr. Mortenson concluded his speech with a favorite African proverb of his: “When you educate a boy, you educate an individual. When you educate a girl, you educate a community.”

(c) 2010 Watertown Daily Times

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