keep forgetting to post this ... procrastinators unite ... tomarrow

Central Asia Institute Memo

Date: 14/02/11

To: English 1311 Students

From: Zane Swaims

RE: The Central Asia Institute

It is astonishing how hard it is for girls to get an education in remote mountain villages of northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and the steppes of Mongolia. The organizations that try to rectify this situation are very important as they help educate girls with the basics needed to help prevent them from being objects. With out organizations like The Central Asia Institute these remote villages will continue to mistreat women. This specific organization mainly works in Pakistan and Afghanistan and mainly with the education of girls ages five to fourteen.

The Central Asia Institute was founded by Greg Mortenson in 1993. He got exhausted after a failed attempt to scale K2, the worlds second largest mountain above sea level, and wondered away from his group. He wound up in village where he noticed there was no school but the kids were eager to learn. After he left he promised he would build them a school. When he returned three years later he fulfilled that promise.

The Central Asia Institute builds schools around central Asia with the help of the community that they are building in. They also train locals to be teachers to teach the kids. The Central Asia Institute works with the community without bringing in any outsiders that the communities might feel uncomfortable around. They also get the communities to build the schools with there own resources and labor to ensure the school will last longer. These projects are lead by village elders and the like.

The reason the institute concentrates mainly on girls is for three reasons, as said in the video Building Peace which can be found at www.ikat.org, “One it will reduce infant mortality, two reduce the population explosion, and three improve the basic quality of health and life itself.” the video also says this is not an immediate change and takes some time. The Central Asia Institute believes it is important to keep the community heavily involved in the ways mentioned earlier. They do not only build schools but also offer scholarships and other forms of aid to help further peoples education.

While it sounds like the Central Asia Institute only does schools this is not true. While they concentrate mainly on schools and the schooling of girls aged five to fourteen they also help with other things. Some of these other things include creating potable water systems and water filtration systems. They also help with health care in the form of sanitation, bathrooms, and eye surgeries.

The Central Asia Institutes main website is www.ikat.org. It has more then enough information about them and videos showing what they do. It also has a section where you can help fund raise. It has links to a guide, templates, publications, videos, and more. It has a link directly to Greg Mortensons twitter to keep in touch with him. It even has a list of projects and a map showing where everything they have done is. The site also has a list of upcoming and past events which include book signings, lectures, and fundraisers Greg Morteson shows up for.