Journal 7: The Central Asia Institute

Although I have been heard complaining about having too much school work from time to time, I still believe that learning is a crucial part of life all around the world. Much like Greg Mortenson, I believe that everyone should have the right to better their education. I also believe that hope for a better future comes with better education. To see how vital education is to everyday life, imagine a world without it. Imagine a world where basic medicine like Advil is scarce, where entertainment drifts as rapidly as the weather, and you have to eat virtually every part of an animal to avoid wasting the scarce source of meat and nutrition. Sadly, all of this is a part of everday life in many poor villages in Pakistan.

This is why I would donate my time and money to the Central Asia Institute. Not only has the CAI helped in providing a sort of safe haven for many of the children in these villages, it has provided them something that their government has neglected to provide for many years, a school. When we started reading the book, Three Cups of Tea, I soon admired Mortenson's work. He had a vision of providing these children with a basic school where they could learn and increse their education amongst their peers and the vision became a reality. I think my money would be appreciated and with a leader like Mortenson, it would deffinitely go to good use.

On the CAIs website, you instantly see the impact that they have had on the children of the area. The CAI is credited with supporting, fully or partially, 131 different schools. They have also supported over 1,200 teachers in this same region. Besides the schools, they have also had a direct impact on the education of these children by educating over 58,000 children, which is incredible. I would consider it an honor to be a part of such a dignified and helpful institute such as the CAI.