In 2010, Central Asia Institute projects have continued with educating a roster of 68,000 students, including 54,000 girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They also established 42 new schools, and also initiated two dozen other temporary schools in shelters, tents and rented buildings. To date the Central Asia Institute has 172 schools, dozens of literacy and computer centres and a budding scholarship program for advanced students. Despite the gloom surrounding the region and the pain of the people, I want to begin 2011 with the view that there is always hope. I continue to remain in awe and admiration of Greg Mortenson's work and including a link here to the CAI publication that reflects on the previous twelve months, appropriately enough entitled Journey of Hope.
It is very easy and cheap to produce a warrior to turn the peaceful lives of innocents into misery. But it is a very hard, expensive and time consuming job to educate a child and equip him with a hope of better future. A person who undertakes such a job, needs a strong conviction, determination and devotion. There are very few who devote their lives to such noble missions. Greg Mortenson is a wonderful man of miraculous personality, who took education to such neglected and inaccessible region that even the world maps do not show its existence. I have heard him in a couple of seminars. He is doing such a remarkable work that words of appreciation can not do justice to him and his mission. He and his CAI bring a brighter Hope than the sunshine to those innocent souls who have been neglected and deprived of all opportunities of education by their respective governments and rich and advanced world. God is always involved in the success of such missions.
ReplyDeleteSalaam Taj - in the contemporary world, there are few people I'd want go out of my way to read about, see and hear.
ReplyDeleteThe building blocks of education start with the most simple things. Great things can come out of just putting the basics in place. Such a pity that it takes an "outsider" to do this, but all the more reason I find Greg Mortenson's work invaluable.
Who else knows the value of education better than I? I was 5 and my brother 8 when our father died and he left us with one advice " Ignore and give up all expectation of KHANI and Malaki, go for education even if you have to leave your home." and that was what we did. All our relatives and people of our tribe turned against us saying what a shame that we gave up Pakhtu for Mulatob and that we betrayed our people. Any way there were no schools except a primary school in our village. I am talking of 1947,1948. We did not care what people were saying and how much we have to give up. And then we saw that day when we both brothers became the first university graduates from Buner and became sort of inspiring legend for the young generation and people started to realize the value of education. My brother went into Civil Service of Pakistan and retired as Director and I became a public Accountant and migrated to Canada in 1972.
ReplyDeleteNow I see many Bunerwals are PhDs and MDs and online I came across a young Bunerwal girl who is vice president in Microsoft in US, that day I felt so happy and proud that I could not hold my tears. I am so proud of all those Bunerwals who went and are going for higher education inside Pakistan and abroad. Some time I think if we had been influenced by Pakhto of that time and preferred some kind of tribal status, and had not gone for education, how long Bunerwals would have to wait to get out of igorence and catch up the world.
Once when I met Greg, I jokingly asked him " Where were you when I was a kid and badly in need of education." He replied " Sorry I was not born then."