A Gift to Afghanistan
Add comment August 26th, 2008 12:07pm Karen Bieschke
Northern Illinois is preparing to present Greg Mortenson a gift of $50,000 to build and support a school in Afghanistan. A more meaningful gift could never be imagined. It is based on the experiences of one man.
After a failed attempt to climb K-2 in the Himalayas, Greg Mortenson had a life-altering experience. Lost and alone, he was rescued by the people in the remote village of Korphe, Pakistan. In the days he waited for a guide to take him back to civilization, he asked to see where the children went to school.
Imagine a young child showing you his school and finding there are no walls or roof, and this boy sits on a dusty plateau above his home where sticks are his pencils and the dirt is his pad of paper. This boy sees a teacher a few times a week and on the days that the teacher doesn’t come, he goes to “school” anyway and the children try to teach each other…
That was the nugget of inspiration for Greg Mortenson to say he would build the children a school. It was a solemn promise he vowed to keep.
Little did he know where it would lead.
Little did we know…
With the help of our community we will present Greg Mortenson with a check for at least $50,000 which will build and support a girls’ school in remote Afghanistan for three to five years.
To accomplish this goal, many have joined our Pennies for Peace chorus, singing that this can be done by a city who doesn’t always see how lucky we are, how much we have to share and contribute, how great it feels to give from the heart, how much good a lowly penny can do when combined with lots of other pennies.
Children and teachers, principals and parents from schools at the state line - to south of Rochelle, from Cook and McHenry County to Stevenson County, both public and private, and preschool to college are joining us. Individuals, businesses, restaurants, a dental office and other not-for-profits are adding harmony to our Pennies for Peace refrain.
We need more people to help accomplish our goal.
Today we have a kick-off at Burpee Museum between 2:30 and 6:00. Please join us if you are able. You will see many who are just starting this journey and want to help in any way they can.
See what you can do.
Drop coins in the containers you see at Beef-a-Roo or Five Forks Market, or add money to the jar at your local school. Mail in a check.
Pennies for Peace is what we say over and over. Spread the word - a little does so much – just a penny for a pencil, twenty dollars for school supplies for a year… and the list goes on. Please join us, and support us.This will be our cumulative gift to the world, our gift to people who hunger for knowledge and have no way to quench that hunger.
It is also a gift for our own children by starting a peaceful world, not by dropping bombs, but where we build peace – one penny at a time, one school at a time.
Maybe this will be your life-altering experience too.
