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Oct 5, 2009 5:54 pm US/Central
Author Hopes Texans Will Give 'Pennies For Peace'
By Arezow Doost
(CBS 11 / TXA 21)
As the sun sets in the mountains of Colorado there is a call to prayer.
A mix of faiths and backgrounds coming together for a common goal and to help one man at the Journey of Hope Benefit Concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver.
His name is Greg Mortenson, humanitarian and author of the bestselling book "Three Cups of Tea."
As the debate intensifies over the war in Afghanistan some argue to send in more troops, others to bring them home.
But Mortenson plans to be on the ground there for a long time.
He's fighting extremists in his own way. Not with bullets or bombs, but by building schools and now he's hoping North Texans can help too.
"I have spent 16-years working in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan," says Mortenson.
Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea," chronicles his efforts to build schools in places where there are no schools.
His logic is simple: help educate a girl and she'll help educate a village.
"The greatest fear of the extremist groups is not a bullet but a pen," says Mortenson "They are really afraid if the girl grows up and gets an education that as a mother that women will dissuade her son from getting into violence or into terrorism."
Building schools also provides the young girls with an opportunity for a better life. It's part of a promise Mortenson made more than a decade ago.
Mortenson stumbled upon a small village during a mountain expedition in Pakistan. He saw the children drawing in the dirt with no teacher. He told them he would return one day to build a school.
"It took 3-years to get our first school done in 1996," says Mortenson "Today 13-years later we have 131 schools."
Mortenson hasn't done it alone. You would be surprised who helps him raise much of the money... school children.
The
Pennies for Peace campaign raises one cent at a time in many classrooms across the country.
"I identified with Greg," says Frank Duffy from Houston. Duffy is behind
Texans for Pennies for Peace.
He rounded up some friends and wanted to do something across the state. "We didn't want to be just Houston we wanted to reach outlining areas," says Duffy.
The Texans have been at work for only a few months and have started working with a number of schools and Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin.
"They are going to encourage all libraries in the state to participate in Pennies for Peace," explains Duffy. Duffy hopes to spread Mortenson's message to Dallas/Fort Worth next.
"We are going to need help. We need someone to step up in DFW and start a chapter," says Duffy.
As Mortenson gets ready for another trip overseas, he says he's thrilled about Texas getting involved.
"I think we need to do everything we can to leave them (children) a legacy of peace," says Mortenson.
Mortenson who has two children says he couldn't imagine if they didn't have an education.
His call to help the little girls of Afghanistan and Pakistan has inspired other's to help in their own communities.
From helping the homeless children to building soccer fields in Africa children around the country are making a difference.
At the benefit concert Mortenson points out the importance of celebrating those children.
Kids like Zach Bonner. He's breaking barriers by helping homeless children through his
Little Red Wagon Foundation.
"I stared collecting food, water, and supplies," says Bonner. Bonner was just 6-years-old when he took his little red wagon door to door and collected supplies for Hurricane Charlie victims. He recently walked from his house in Florida to the White House and raised $75,000.
Bonner plans to walk coast to coast this Christmas holiday. He will stop in Dallas and wants to see the homeless children's needs for himself.
"My dream is that no child should ever be homeless," says Bonner "These kids aren't homeless because they don't want to obey it's because of situations out of their control."
Brother Kyle and Garrett Weiss can relate to Bonner. Their inspiration came from one of their passions.
"Before we could even walk I think we played soccer," says Kyle Weiss.
The Weiss family had gone on a family vacation years ago in Germany for the World Cup.
There they met a team from Angola which changed their lives.
They boys heard the hardships of not even having a soccer field to play on or even a ball and immediately wanted to help.
They started
FUNDaFIELD and are raising money to buy soccer fields and equipment for African schools.
"We are a group of 30 kids in California building soccer fields," explains Garrett Weiss "We've raised almost $90,000 with 5 soccer fields. Two in South Africa, two in Kenya and one in Uganda."
The brothers have gotten their friends and even strangers involved. Their entire board is made up of students their age.
"We are going back to Kenya in December to build another one," says Kyle.
As each non-profit is celebrated by Mortenson so are the founders. They seem pretty extraordinary, but insist there is nothing special about them. They do say, if anything, they didn't let age get in the way.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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