building hope 201 5 - central asia institutebuilding hope 201 5. 2 | footsteps central asia...

CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE

SPRING 2015CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

FootstepsBUILDING HOPE 2015

2 | Footsteps CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE

BUILDING HOPE Help CAI build a bridge to tomorrow:

ven as a little girl, Jahan, now 30,knew full well what her futurewould be without education.

Growing up in the remote village ofKorphe, in northern Pakistan, her destinymirrored that of the generations of womenwho came before her: fieldwork, domesticchores, and “making babies.” Like somany other women in these impoverishedand isolated mountain communities,

Jahan’s own mother had died giving birthto her. She wanted something different. When the first school in her villageopened in 1996, Jahan demanded her father give her permission to attend. Sheworked hard. She completed middleschool and convinced her father to allowher to attend high school in the regionalcapital, Skardu, with the help of a CAIscholarship. After high school, she

E

enrolled in health-worker training. Shewas insatiable when it came to learning. Already, she was light years ahead ofthe other young women in her village. Herfather put his foot down and demandedshe marry. She complied, but did not surrender her dreams. With the help of another CAI scholar-ship, she, her husband, and their first-born child moved to Islamabad, where

she continues work on her master’s degree in English. “Education is so powerful,” she said. “Ithas changed me my feelings, my thoughts,my way of speaking are all different. I try todevelop a confidence in class and learnedhow to talk with honorable people, withadults, friends, and the teacher. “Now I am very proud of myself. I ameven role model—after my education thereare many girls going to school and they havea big interest in learning something. I thank

my God and Central Asia Institute for agood education in my life,” she said. Jahan is part of the first wave of liter-ate young people in the communitiesCAI serves. CAI now has more than 400 projects,with over 100,000 students enrolled, 70percent of them girls. For those students, theworld is opening, much as it did for Jahan. “For too long people have looked past

the people who live in these communitiesand focused instead on the stunning land-scapes, the peaks to climb, the wars thatwage in the valleys, the corrupt and elitistgovernments,” CAI Executive Jim Thadensaid. “Central Asia Institute focuses on

ikat.org Footsteps | 3

B 2015 A capital campaign

CAI now has more than 400 projects, with over 100,000 students enrolled, 70 percent of them girls.

Baltistan, Pakistan: Expansions to two schools—including Jahan’s alma materin Korphe and our second school, in Hushe village—where enrollment exceeds theschools’ capacities. Funds needed: KORPHE: $35,000 + HUSHE: $15,000

Saw, Afghanistan: Rebuild bombed-out portion of Saw Girls’ School in volatileKunar Province. Funds needed: $35,000

Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan: Badly needed repairs for 26 schools in one ofthe most remote corners of the world. Funds needed: $100,000

Rukut, Pakistan: Construction of a new primary school in the Yarkhun Valleyof Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a region beset by poverty and government neg-lect and increasingly threatened by extremist activity. Funds needed: $25,000

Barg-e-Matal, Afghanistan: CAI is in the first year of a two-year project to raisefunds for a new girls’ school in volatile Nuristan province on the Afghan-Pakistanborder. Funds needed: $150,000


the people. CAI’s ongoing relationshipswith the schools and communities, its will-ingness to continue to expand schools andconsider other critical needs along the wayis what makes us different from other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).” To ensure the success and sustainabilityof this work, we need your help. In the following pages you will find moreinformation about the specific projects wehope to fund with money raised in this cam-paign. This is work that has to happen. “So many nongovernmental organi-zations are retreating from these areasalong with the American and interna-

tional troops’ focus,” Thaden said. “Theresult is other internationally fundedprojects are already crumbling from lackof care. We’re determined not to let thishappen to the schools and communitiesCAI supports. We have an unwaveringlong-term commitment to keep theschools and programs open, providingthe best-quality education possible, evenunder extreme conditions.” If you’ve already given, we’re grateful.Please consider a gift specifically to thisfund. Help us build a more peaceful, sustainable, and enlightened future. Help usbuild a bridge to tomorrow. n

Total funds needed:$360,000

See page 15 to find out how you can help

CAI Spring Campaign Projects:

Stories by Karin Ronnow, CAI communications directorPhotos by Erik Petersen, Ellen Jaskol, and CAI overseas team


CAI’s work began in the remote villages ofBaltistan, a region in northern Pakistan’sKarakoram Mountains. CAI Co-FounderGreg Mortenson first traveled there in1993 to climb K2, the world’s second-highestmountain. Over the next few years, he returned several times as he worked tofulfill his dream to build a school in Korphe village and form CAI. In the years since, education has had aprofound effect on these impoverished,subsistence farming and herding commu-nities. “Real change takes one or two gen-erations and we are now beginning to seethat,” Mortenson said. But it is a difficult place to work. Theremoteness and lack of modern amenitiesmeans that “many small things are big ob-stacles,” said Mohammad Nazir, CAI’sBaltistan program manger. Poverty per-sists; most families survive on subsistencefarming and herding. Houses are mudbrick. The only “industry” in the region,tourism, has been hard hit by increasingterrorism attacks in Pakistan. CAI’s goal was to start schools at theremote ends of the most remote valleys,places where there were no schools. CAI’sapproach evolved over time but generally

includes community contributions ofland, building materials, and manuallabor. CAI provides the other materialsand skilled labor, along with teacher train-ing, salaries, and support. The second phase of CAI’s work hasinvolved helping students continue theireducation beyond the level available intheir communities. This includes scholar-ships as well as school expansions. “There is always need for expansion

of schools – more teachers, land, class-rooms,” Nazir said. “And now there are re-quests for science labs, electricity andcomputers, and libraries.” Students who started in CAI-sup-ported schools are now young men andwomen. Two of the Korphe teachers andfour of Hushe teachers attended theschools where they now teach. Othershave pursued higher education in the citycenters from far home. CAI’s commit-ment to them continues. n

Two of the Korphe teachers and four of the Hushe teachers attendedthe schools where they now teach.

Patience and Commitment


In the nearly two decadessince the first school wasbuilt in Korphe, a genera-tion of children has

learned to read and write. Some graduateshave gone on to pursue higher education.Others have married and are raising theirown children, the next generation of Kor-phe School students. “Now, slowly, people are changing,”“Master” Hussain, Korphe’s first teacher,said. “They are going to school and doinggood things for their children, their fami-lies, their villages.” In 2010, the same heavy rains andlandslides that triggered Pakistan’s epicfloods caused the Korphe School roof tocave in. CAI helped rebuild the school,which was then renamed in memory ofHaji Ali, the former village leader. Meanwhile, enrollment continued togrow. Nearly 200 students enrolled for the2015 school year, which began in March,Nazir said. The existing school has fiverooms, four of which are classrooms andone as the school office. But it’s not enough. “Now it goes to class eight, but theyhave shortage of classrooms,” Nazir said.“Korphe community elders have alsobeen asking for past three or four years formore classrooms. In that time we havebeen looking for land, but there is no land.Now [village] people are donating landfree of cost. And it is in front of the school.They also were demanding some help

from government side, but government isvery lazy in these remote areas.” The expansion calls for four new class-rooms, a new boundary wall, and an ex-panded playground, Nazir said. “Ifpossible we have to provide them drinkingwater for school as well because alreadythere is a shortage. The system of waterthere is very bad. So if possible we can dothat also.” n

ADD CLASSROOMSHaji Ali Middle School Korphe, Pakistan

$35,000needed

In 2010, heavy rains and landslides causedthe Korphe School roof to cave in. CAI helpedthe village rebuild the school, but now an expansion is needed to accommodate higherclasses and more students.


Hushe was CAI’s secondschool. It sits in the cen-ter of a small village atthe end of the road.

CAI completed construction of HushePrimary School in 1998. “Before that,there was no school in Hushe,” Nazir said.“Then the government built four class-rooms in another building. And every yearthe enrollment of students increases.” The school was turned over to the gov-ernment, but CAI continues to support theteachers and 195 students, filling in gapswhere government support falls short. One of those teachers is Khadim Ali, aHushe School graduate who completed

high school in Khapalu, the regional center37 miles [but a day-long jeep ride on badroads] to the south, then got his teachingcertification and returned to the village. “Education is very important foreveryone, especially those who live in farareas, far from cities,” said Ali, now ateacher in Hushe. “There is low literacyand I want all the people to be educated.” The hunger for education is also fedby a declining local economy and expo-sure to literate westerners. Mountaineers en route to Masher brumMountain, which peaks at 25,659 feet, travel

HIGH SCHOOL EXAM HALLHushe High SchoolHushe, Pakistan

$15,000needed


up the Hushe River Valley. The climbingbusiness drove the local economy for manyyears. But in recent years, expedition traffichas slowed to a trickle, Rozi Ali, a lifetimeHushe resident, said. Local elders know education will givetheir children a fighting chance in achanging world. “The community has been asking forthe past two to three years one auditoriumor examination hall,” Nazir said. “Theyrequest to me that we can build an exam-ination hall [in the schoolyard] next to the

government building. They have beenasking for a long time.” The community will use the 24-by-30-foot room for student exams, and forschool meetings, and extra classroomspace, he said. “Now Hushe to nine class. When webuild examination hall they will be startedas a high school,” he said. “Hushe peopleare much happy.” Work is scheduled to start this spring,as soon as the weather is clear, and finishin late summer. n


CAI is committed tohelping Saw village, inAfghanistan’s conflict-ridden Kunar province,rebuild its girls’ school,

which was partially destroyed in a Febru-ary bombing. No one was killed or hurt when for-eign militants attacked the 10-roomschool one night during the school’s win-ter break. Three of 10 rooms and a toiletwere destroyed. Sections of the roof werealso blown off, and windows and furnituredamaged. Saw is in a rugged, mountainous areaon the porous Afghanistan–Pakistan bor-der. Militants frequently travel throughthe region, which is also a crossroads foropium, heroin, and human trafficking. CAI is resolved to do “everything inour power to help the Saw communitycontinue education in the village,”Thaden said. The attack on the school is “very sadand painful,” but the brave Saw students“risk their lives to go to school, and wemust always honor and help them realizetheir dreams,” said CAI-Afghanistan Di-rector Wakil Karimi. “We will never quitto help the children of Saw.” The school was completed 2009 andenrollment has increased from 49 to 597girls, the first generation of literate girls inthe village, said Naray district Education

Officer Maulvi Abdul Kayoum. Foreign militants have been blamedfor the attack. The local Afghan Talibancommander has repeatedly said his fight-ers were not involved; some of them sendtheir daughters to the school. “This is deeply saddening for the peo-ple of Saw,” said Christopher Kolenda, aCAI consultant and former U.S. Armycolonel who introduced CAI to Saw eldersin 2007 while serving in Afghanistan. “Iknow how passionately they feel abouteducation and how fiercely they have de-fended the school and their children’srights and future from increasingly ag-gressive threats and attacks from Pak-istani militants. “I have no doubt this despicable attackwill only strengthen the determination ofthe people of Saw as they fight for the fu-ture of their children through education,”Kolenda said. The cost of repairing the school ishigher than usual given the challenges ofmoving materials and laborers in and out ofKunar, Karimi said. Foreign Taliban controlthe only road and have threatened to killlocal leaders and civilians if strangers enterthe village. Frequent attacks on roadblocksand checkposts throughout Kunar makethe situation even more complex. n

REPAIR BOMB DAMAGESaw Girls’ School Kunar Province,Afghanistan

$35,000needed


“In 2004, when CAI firstbegan working inAfghanistan, we targetedthe most remote, inac-cessible, underserved re-

gion—the Wakhan Corridor,” Mortensonsaid. “We wanted to go into one area andreally make a difference. We started at theend of the road, in Sarhad-e-Broghil,where we finished the first school in 2006.Since then we have responded to requestsfrom 25 other communities to help themestablish schools.” These projects—along with CAI’s on-going support for students and teachers, maternal healthcare workers, and sixwomen’s vocational centers—representan estimated $3 million investment in theWakhan.

Now CAI is working hand-in-handwith the Afghan government and ourAfghan nonprofit partner Star of Knowl-edge to upgrade and support the schoolsin this particularly remote region. OtherNGOs are leaving the region, but we arecommitted to supporting these commu-nities and, in the longer term, to helpinglocals form their own NGO to insure theprojects are well managed and sustainedfor generations to come, Thaden said. The repairs and improvements include: Toilets for two schools, Sanglich andPotokh primary schools. Boundary walls for Sarhad/Sitara and

Khuspak higher secondary schools, andSanglich, Potokh and Pikui primary schools. Toilet repairs at Kali Panj Higher Sec-

ondary School. “In the Wakhan we were really able tosee the effect of going into one area, reallyworking with all communities, and seeingthis huge uplift,” Mortenson said. “Nowthere is this shining beacon, this ray ofhope coming from this remote, inaccessi-ble area. If you can do it there, you can doit anywhere.” n

BADLY NEEDED REPAIRS26 SchoolsWakhan Corridor,Afghanistan

$100,000needed


Head south from Sarhadin the Wakhan, over theBroghil pass, down thetrail and onto the roadand within a relatively

short distance is the village of Rukut. “When I first went to Rukut, there wasnot any school there,” said Saidullah Baig,director of CAI-Gilgit, our nonprofit part-ner in the region. CAI began working with other vil-lages in the remote northern reaches ofKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in 2010and projects now include four schools,four maternal healthcare workers, and asmall college. “In 2013 we started an informalschool in Rukut, which is small village ofabout 20 families on the Yarkhun River,”Baig said. “We gave them a teacher,chairs and books—everything we havegiven. But they have nobuilding. The school is inopen air.” The teacher is EssaKhan, a 32-year-old localman whose illiterate parentssent him away for school-ing. “My parents wereaware about importance ofeducation, but because of fi-nancial problems, my fivebrothers and sister couldnot get education,” he said. After he completed highschool, “because of finan-

cial problem, I could not continue my ed-ucation, so I started teaching,” Khan said.He taught at two other CAI-supportedschools north of his village before Baighired him to teach in his home village. The school has 27 students—six girlsand 21 boys—and he teaches all subjects.“Now we have kindergarten and classone, and in 2015 we start class two.” “The people of our village are happy tosee their kids have started school,” he said.“Our village is isolated and education isimportant to find the ways of connectionto outside world. But still we are facingproblems without building. In winter weare taking the children to somebody’shome and in summer I am teaching inopen air.” Baig said the primary school will be, de-pending on the costs of material and trans-port, “four or five classrooms, plus twotoilets and a boundary wall. We broughtsome material, some wood, and they arecollecting gravel and stone there while theriver is low. Then after the Shandur Pass isopen in April, we can deliver other materi-als and start construction in May.” n

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTIONRukut Primary SchoolRukut, Pakistan

$25,000needed


The people of Barg-e-Matal district inAfghanistan’s Nuristanprovince can’t seem tocatch a break.

Their communities are isolated bygeography, perched high on the steep,wooded slopes of the Hindu Kush Moun-tains, just steps from the Afghan-Pak-istan border. The difficult terrain,however, provides much-desired coverfor heavily armed extremist fightersfrom both sides of the border. Nuristanhas also become part of the “heroin high-way” into Pakistan. Years of fighting have decimated de-velopment efforts. Communication andhealth care are virtually nonexistent. Tal-iban control the only road in the easternthird of the province, intimidating, taxing,and challenging anyone who tries to movethrough the area. “This is one of the most conflicted areasin Afghanistan,” Mortenson said. “Eight of11 American Medal of Honor recipientsearned those medals while fighting in thatregion. This is hard-fought ground.” Not a single school has been built inNuristan since 2009. Yet elders know ed-ucation is critical, said Ghulam Allah, for-

mer provincial police chief. “If childrenare uneducated, insurgents hire them forfighting and it will never end.” And they most emphatically do notwant that. So the elders have asked CAI tohelp replace a girls’ high school that wasdestroyed three years ago. “When I was a student, we had a 16-room girls’ high school in Barg-e-Matal,but after I graduated it was burned by theTaliban,” said Atifa Nuristani, a provin-cial council member. “When the woodstructure burned, the walls fell down.That was during heavy fighting timewhen Taliban came and destroyed every-

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTIONGirls’ High SchoolBarg-e-Matal, Afghanistan

$150,000needed

Peace is not something you wish for. It’s something

you work for.


Militants kidnap children to use as suicide bombersExtremist groups, including the Taliban, “have a lengthy track record of usingchildren to carry out their nefarious acts, rather than trying to protect them,”according to a recent Central Asia Online report. Just this past winter, Afghan officials “arrested a man in Jalalabad whilehe was trying to smuggle 27 children from Nuristan provinceto Pakistan,” the news service reported. “The man confessedto plotting to have the children brainwashed in extremistseminaries for use as suicide bombers.” Col. Sayed Rahman Shayeq, Civil Order Police commander, told CentralAsia Online: “The Taliban mostly use children as war instruments.” Read more of this 5 Feb., 2015, story at centralasiaonline.com(Source: Afghan Taliban use children to achieve targets, by Sayer Zaland, 2/5/2015)

thing in the district. Now … all schoolteaching is in homes.” CAI is committed to helping this com-munity. “CAI has a unique capability to bringcreative, pioneering solutions for educa-tion to remote, conflict-ridden regionslike Nuristan,” CAI Board ChairmanSteve Barrett said. “But this is a complexproject. We intend to start with smallereducation and literacy programs in 2015while we work out the details of buildingthe high school in 2016. Because the areais so remote, we estimate we will need

$300,000 for this work when it is all saidand done. Our current goal is a two-yearfundraiser toward that end.” It won’t be easy, Mortenson said. “It'sgoing to take awhile to pull together, butthis is what we do best. You can ask anyone.We’ve been at this almost 20 years and no-body but CAI has the public and private re-lationships to pull this together. We aregoing to need financial help from support-ers, and much help from the communityside, but we can support the Nuristanis’ de-termination to build a better future for theirchildren and grandchildren.” n

“It’s going to take awhile to pull together, but this is what we do best.”

Looking for a fun way to get involved? You can fundraise for CAI and make ameaningful difference in communitieslike Korphe, Rukut, and Barg-e-Matal. Dan Milner was one of a group of ad-venturesome bicyclists who rode thelength of Afghanistan’s remote WakhanCorridor, where CAI has numerousschools. Milner used his 12-day bicyclingexpedition as an opportunity to raiseawareness and funds for CAI. “Having seen the CAI built/fundedschools first hand in the north ofAfghanistan during our trip and beingacutely aware of how important educationis in the lives and futures of inhabitants ofsuch regions, it seemed logical to do myfundraiser for the CAI,” Milner said. Opportunities abound for creativefundraisers like Dan’s. You can do just

about anything—sell arts and crafts, host adinner party, run a 5K—as long as it’s funand fits your personality. CAI provides freeresources and materials to help make yourfundraising campaign successful.

Ways you can help:

Dan Milner was one of a group of adventuresome bicyclists

who rode the length ofAfghanistan’s remote

Wakhan Corridor, where CAI has numerous schools.

Starting is easy:1. Decide how you want to fundraise

2. Register on our website at ikat.org.

3. Start fundraising!Check out our website for fundrais-ing ideas and resources and moreinformation about the program:www.ikat.org. You can also emailus anytime at [email protected]

View and share our spring campaign video: www.ikat.org Order additional copies of this newsletter to distributeamong friends, community groups: [email protected]

Post a note of your support on our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/CentralAsiaInstitute

Otherideas:


Ikat.org/cai-communique

facebook.com/CentralAsiaInstitutetwitter.com/peacethroughedinstagram.com/centralasiainstitutevimeo.com/ikat/videostumblr.com/blog/centralasiainstitute

Mail:Central Asia InstitutePO Box 7209Bozeman, MT 59771 U.S.A.Phone: 1+406-585-7841Email: [email protected] to our blog or e-newsletter on our website:www.ikat.org

CAI is a registered nonprofit organization U.S. IRC § 501(c)(3) | EIN: 51-0376237

Central Asia Institute invites you, your children, your club, or your school to participate in our Pennies for Peace (P4P) program.Participants collect pennies for students and teachersstudying and working in CAI-supported schools in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. In the villageswhere we work, a few pennies can buy a pencil, openthe door to literacy, and change a life. P4P is a fun service-learning program that educateschildren about how they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time. Participating schools and teachers receivea free toolkit with standard-aligned K-12 curriculum. Students—our future leaders—learn how to become philanthropists and activists. It’s easy to start. Register your campaign today at www.penniesforpeace.org

Help build bridges of peace—one penny at a time

Thank you for your support.

Your tax-deductible donations help promote Peace through Education.

building hope 201 5 - central asia institutebuilding hope 201 5. 2 | footsteps central asia...

Documents