Greg Mortenson

“When I look into the eyes of children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I see my own children. I want my own kids and their counterparts to live in peace, but that will not happen unless we teach them alternatives to the cycle of terrorism and war.”
– Greg Mortenson

At the Charles Mulligan Intermediate School in Central Islip, we have a culturally rich community of students. We encourage respect for one another and want our students to actively take charge of learning for people globally.

Last January, our fifth- and sixth-grade students, teachers and staff worked together to collect spare change for the Pennies for Peace Project to help build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We chose to participate in this cause for social justice after reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and learning about his mission for peace through education.
Our Mulligan School students hope to help build a bridge of peace, one penny at a time, offering alternatives to the cycle of terrorism and war. We want them to understand the social issues facing the world today and know they have the potential to affect change.

Pennies for Peace is a program of the Central Asia Institute. The institute focuses on community-based education, especially for girls. It believes that a fifth-grade education for girls improves the basic conditions of health for them and their families, and spreads the value of education within their communities.

Literacy, for both boys and girls, is viewed as the pivotal point for providing better economic opportunities.

Children in more than 400 mountain villages in remote northern Pakistan and Afghanistan are on a waiting list, hoping to learn in a new school.

In our society, a single penny is practically worthless, but in impoverished countries a penny buys a pencil and empowers a child to read and write, thereby opening the door to literacy.

One of the lessons learned by our students involved the financial budget needed to run a school for the children in Afghanistan and Pakistan:

* 1 penny = one pencil
* 2 pennies = one eraser
* 15 pennies = one notebook
* $2 or $3 = one teacher’s salary for one day
* $20 = one student’s school supplies for one year
* $600 = one teacher’s annual salary
* $5,000 = support for an existing school for one year
* $50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years

(Source: Central Asia Institute)

After students read Three Cups of Tea, they learned how girls were not allowed to go to school and teachers who tried to secretly teach the girls suffered brutal treatment or even death.

Farida Walyzada, a native of Afghanistan and teaching assistant in the district’s Reed Middle School, talked to students and teachers about life in Kabul.

Over cups of tea, we learned about the many cultures that travelled through northern Afghanistan during the days of Marco Polo and the Silk Route. We learned about the poor living conditions in Afghanistan as well as the lack of proper educational facilities and supplies.

We saw pictures of children playing in houses and schools that had been bombed, and orphaned children crowding around a visitor who gave them bits of food to eat.

“This made me want to cry and made me angry!” said fifth-grader Radika Latchman. “I believe all girls have the right to get an education,” student Dayanna Flores said.

Students decided to sell rubber bracelets labeled with the words “Education for All” as well as collect pennies from classrooms throughout the school building.

Of course for fun, and to respect the traditions of Afghani people, the school held three tea parties. The first cup of tea we shared, we were guests; drinking the second cup we became friends; and during the third tea party we became a family!

The culmination of our Pennies for Peace Project took place on Jan. 26 when 32 students, parents and teachers went to St. John’s University to meet author Greg Mortenson.

Mortenson was presented with our “Education for All” rubber bracelets and a check for $1,035 for Pennies for Peace.

Since then, students have written postcards to pen pals in Kabul and have sent a care package with bookmarks and stickers. We sent letters to our American soldiers.

We also plan to sponsor Afghani refugee girls who were deprived of their education due to the conflict in their country.

Our students have thanked us as their educators and mentors in the arena of social justice for helping them learn how they can make a difference in other parts of the world.

We, in turn, especially thank Greg Mortenson, who has dedicated his life to building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan knowing that the best hope for a peaceful and prosperous world lies in the education of all the world’s children.

(c) 2010 NYSUT

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