What, more specifically, is Pennies for Peace?
Elementary school children in the Fremont and Newark Unified School Districts are engaged in collecting pennies to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan through Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute. This non-profit institute has built about 70 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan (10 in Afghanistan and 60 in Pakistan). This summer alone, Greg, his team and the communities he serves built 10 schools – five in Pakistan and five in Afghanistan. Although Greg’s first school cost only $12,000, it now costs about $30,000 to build a school in these remote Central Asian villages. It is our fervent hope that our community can donate one school to feed the minds and hearts of children, with a focus on girls. A penny, while it’s useless here in America, will buy a pencil for children in these villages and 100 pennies will pay for a teacher for one day. The program started in early October and will end by Thanksgiving. Thus far the children have raised almost $24,000! AAUW is working closely
