Pennies for Peace

Pennies for Peace FAQ

What is Pennies for Peace?

Pennies for Peace is a fundraising program developed to teach children about the world beyond their experience and to show them they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one small act (or penny) at a time.

Based on the work of Greg Mortensen, described in the book Three Cups of Tea, One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time, Pennies for Peace raises funds to build and endow village schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pennies collected by American children provide materials and skilled workers to assist village residents to build their own schools. Funds also support teachers' salaries and books.

Why was the Pennies for Peace program developed?

When Greg Mortensen decided to build a school for the village of Korphe, he sent 500 letters to celebrities, and received only one check back. He became discouraged, and his mother, a principal, suggested talking to the children at her school. They raised $623.40 in pennies. The generosity of the children prompted adults to give, and Greg was able to raise $12,000 in a year, enough for the first school.

The philosophy behind Pennies for Peace is that our best hope for a peaceful and prosperous world lies in the education of all the world's children. Pennies for Peace encourages children, who will be our future leaders, to participate in creating global peace through education. Through the program, children gaincross-cultural understanding and learn how to approach world problems with a "solution" orientation.

Where does the money raised for Pennies for Peace go?

Pennies for Peace is a program of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), the non-profit Greg Mortensen established to build secular schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The board of CAI designates 100% of the money raised through Pennies for Peace to go into a restricted fund that is spent overseas to support building and supplying schools.

How many schools has the Central Asia Institute built?

CAI has helped to build 78 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It Also supports 48 schools in refugee camps in the region. The organization has helped to improve the lives of over 33,000 children, in a part of the world where the literacy rate is as low as 20%.

Why is it called Pennies for Peace?

First of all, the penny, 1% of a dollar, is symbolic of the "1% of Gross Domestic Product" goal set by the United Nations for wealthy countries to give in foreign aid to impoverished nations each year. A penny in the United States is virtually worthless, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan a penny buys a pencil and opens the door to literacy. By focusing on pennies, it is possible for all students, including those of very limited means, to participate fully in the fundraising campaign, and to see that they can make a significant difference in the world.

As for peace: education is the key to global peace and cross-cultural understanding. The pennies collected provide educational opportunity to thousands of children living in small mountain villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Literacy, for both boys and girls, provide better economic opportunities in the future. By giving students more choices, the power of despot mullahs and other extremist leaders is neutralized. Since Greg Mortensen began his work to build schools in 1993, there has been a decrease in violence in the mountain villages he and his organization have helped.

Have any schools being supported through Pennies for Peace been bombed or destroyed?

In Three Cups of Tea, Greg notes that because CAI's schools are built by community residents, the Taliban risks alienating people by bombing these schools. As of March 2009, NO schools supported or built through Pennies for Peace have been bombed or destroyed. 

How many U.S. schools have participated in Pennies for Peace?

More than 4,000.

For more information please go to www.penniesforpeace.org.

Earth Day

On April 22, we had the opportunity to join the 1st - 5th grade students at EBLS at the University Stadium Theater to see Disney's Earth. This was a great way to celebrate Earth Day. Here is the link to the trailer and some students' reflections on the movie.

http://disney.go.com/disneynature/earth/

Disney's Earth was so awesome, but some animals died. That is not cool. Maybe the dad polar bear died. The whales made it. The elephants made it. The baby cubs were old enough to walk around without their mother.

Morgan

The Great White was scary! Now I will talk about the non-scary parts. I loved the little duckie part! It's so cute! I love the mother duck!

Evelyn

My favorite part was when the baboons dance in water and how beautiful the waterfall was. There was nothing I didn't like.

Maya

That part with the monkeys going across the river was funny. I like the penguins. I like the chick part when they were falling in style. I like the cheetah running. He is fast. I like the white color of the wolves. It was cool. That was sad that the polar bear died. That was awesome.

Ben

I liked when the Mandarin Ducks jumped out of the tree. I liked the part where the Great White Shark jumped out of the water and ate the fish. I learned that not all animals can survive. It was cool!

Drake

I thought that was awesome. I didn't like when the papa bear died and I didn't like when all of the babies died by the wolf, lions, and walruses. But what I did like was when the polar bear was trying to go down slopes but he was only going down the side. At a different time, when they could walk on their feet, their mom told them to go down but they went up.

Ellie

I thought that was...let's just say AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Let's go again! I'm ready for anything. I do not like it when the 30 lions attacked the elephant.

Noah

Disney's Earth was...AWESOME!!!!! My favorite part was the baby chicks jumping out from their nest. I liked the polar bear cubs sliding down the hill and the bird's so called magic trick.

Moriah

My favorite part of the movie was the papa polar bear was eating his meal. The Great White Shark was so scary! When it was gone, wolves began to climb on the ice. The papa bear was in danger! If he didn't climb out of the water, he's adios. Drowned!

Daniel 

Aggies win the WAC

Go Aggies! They are the best team in the WAC. I wish Jaycee Carroll was still on the Aggies. He was their best 3 point shooter.

Noah

They were awesome. Nice job Aggies! My Dad is a good churchball player. So am I. Churchball is like basketball except it's in a church.

Abraham

The Aggies are awesome!!!!! They won the Championship!!! They were throwing the ball all around the place. It was awesome. They did slam dunks.

Matthew

The USU was trying to beat the other team. The people were singing the "Show Me" song and the USU beat the other team. I like that.

Daniel

I think the Aggies are the best team in the world! I feel so so so so so so proud for the Aggies. Utah State hey Aggies all the way.

Amelia

I saw Aggies that didn't give up. They tried and tried. They won and they tried as as hard as they could. They made it through the championship and I say they did very good. I wish Jaycee Carroll was their man.

Josue

I'm so glad that they won! They won 30 games and lost 4! I feel so so so so so so goooooood for them.

Moriah

USU went to the WAC Championship and won. Mrs. Wallin is happy.

Shay

I think the Aggies are the best team ever. I feel so so so so so so so so so good for them. I completely know they deserve to go to the NC Double A Basketball tournament. I really really really really really REALLY hope they win.

Logan

I love the song that Mrs. Wallin picked (We Are The Champions). Especially the song at the end. I'm happy for the Aggies. I learned that you just have to try if you want to be good at it.

Alexandra

The Aggies Win!!!! They are the champions of the year. Wow!!!!!! They are cool cool cool Aggies. They are the best. They are good.

Cambree

That's so touching and awesome and Pooh. Did you see Pooh Williams? He was on fire.

Micah

That was awesome! I'll bet you one million dollars that everyone on that team practiced. Gary Wilkinson is my favorite player.

Drake

Those Aggies are awesome. I can hardly sit in my chair. They win the championship. Utah State Aggies all the way. Go Aggies go Aggies hey hey hey. You're my hero.

Madison

100th Day of School

Mrs. Wallin's and Mrs. Steele's classes got to do things for the 100th day of school. We brought in 100 cans of food for the people who need food. We made pictures of when we are 100 years. old.

by Alexandra

100 cans of food we collected for the food bank.

Ever wonder what these second graders will look like when they are 100 years old? Well, wonder no more....

Amelia

Matthew (sorry your sideways...just tip your computer...haha)

Moriah

Noah

Thomas

Abraham

Lexi

Daniel

Shay

Curtis

Evan

Alexandra

Ben

Morgan

Micah

Maya

Evelyn

Ellie

Josue

Jacob

Cambree

Logan

Madison

Micah is a hula dancer!

We had a fun time when Micah returned from Hawaii. I was giving him a hard time about going and leaving me in the "frozen tundra." He said that he would bring me something back and I told him that the only thing I wanted was for him to dress up and do the hula. Sure enough... when he got back...he was dressed and ready to entertain. What a kid!!!! Here's what he wrote:

Before I went to Hawaii, my teacher told me that I needed to bring hula stuff. My teacher and I did the hula and I had a blast.

by Micah

Matthew's Dad is a Pirate!

We had pirates come to our class. We learned how to use a compass and a map. At the end, we found treasure. In the treasure there were gold and necklaces. We learned how to use North, South, East, and West. Rosine read us a book called "Pirate's Don't Change Diapers." This was one of the places we had to go...The Frozen Lands. The Frozen Land was outside. The Final Treasure...Books!

by Matthew

Responses to Video of the Day "Free Hugs Campaign"

I was happy that there were free hugs, but it was sad that it was banned. It was good that they petitioned and made it legal again.

Curtis

I feel sad when the people banned the "free hugs." But when they petitioned they got it back.

Noah

I feel that "free hugs" should not be banned because maybe some people need hugs because you might have got hurt or got cold or just need help.

Logan

I am really proud of him. He made everyone's day happy. At first the day was all gray and then he came.

Madison

I think that our video of the day was cool because it had one of the five freedoms...petition. There were people holding up FREE HUGS. There was a guy skateboarding who jumped off a skateboard and hugged a man.

Drake

It is happy because that guy was trying to get hugs and he got hugs.

Ben

I would be sad if free hugs were banned because he likes free hugs. I like free hugs. If I like free hugs, everyone else should too.

Alexandra

I wish I had a "free hug!" I don't want the free hugs sign to be banned. That's a sad story.

Thomas