WHAT?
Pennies for Peace is an organization that builds schools in rural towns in Central Asia. It was started when mountaineer Greg Mortenson stumbled into the village of Korphe after his failed attempt to climb K2. He was provided with food, shelter and warmth, despite that the village had very little. Mortenson wanted to do something special for Korphe and the village chief told him they needed a school. Mortenson came back to the village, built a school, and has built many schools since. Pennies for Peace does not only help children around the world, it teaches children in America about the importance of education, and helps them think about other children around the world and at home. For example, Ms. Nicole Sullivan said she saw a student who brought in all their pennies, then noticed a classmate whose family could not afford to bring in pennies. The more fortunate students gave some of their pennies to their classmate so that they would have some to contribute too. Boulder Elementary students raised $678.52 for the organization.
WHO?
Pennies for Peace builds schools for uneducated children in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. PFP focuses especially on girls; girls are looked at as only property in these countries and don’t have the opportunities their brothers and husbands have.
WHY?
An education is extremely important. Without a school, children work all day in fields, factories, and other manual labor jobs to help their families. Without an education, children will keep working at manual labor jobs, and when they have children, the cycle repeats. With an education, women are much more likely to get married at an appropriate age, their children’s chances of survival increase drastically, and women are more likely to teach their children to read and write than men are.
HERE IS WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING:
Emma (7th) said she learned “a lot of people are willing to give their pennies to help people.”
Brianna (3rd) said her favorite part of Pennies for Peace was “we got to help other people get school supplies and raise a lot of pennies.”
Addie (3rd) said she liked that “we were helping other kids in other countries.” She learned that “most kids don’t get school supplies like we do.”
Whimml Tristen (1st) liked that he “got to help other kids out.”
Maya (1st) learned “it’s good to help people.”
All the students we interviewed said they would like to do Pennies for Peace again.
Bree Edwards is a 7th grader at Boulder Elementary School.
