History

Central Asia Institute (CAI) is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, founded in 1996, with IRS registration number is 51-0376237. Initial funds to establish Central Asia Institute were provided by Dr. Jean Hoerni, a Swiss physicist, (far right in photo below) a Silicon valley microchip industry pioneer. Greg Mortenson, co-founder and Executive Director of Central Asia Institute, began his work in northern Pakistan in 1993. He also has lived overseas for many years, growing up on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania for fifteen years, and served in the U.S. military from 1975-1977. Mortenson’s initial development efforts were first inspired by the Balti people he met after a 1993 climb of K2 (world’s second highest mountain). The K2 climb was dedicated to his sister Christa, who died from severe epilepsy in 1992. Mortenson’s biography describes his background in detail.

Mortenson’s work was catalyzed when he met Dr. Hoerni, who provided funding for the first two projects, a bridge over the Braldu River and a school in Korphe village. From 1993-1996, he spent the majority of his time living and working in the rugged Karakoram mountain villages of northern Pakistan. This was an invaluable experience in a remote region relatively unknown to outsiders. Mortenson learned to appreciate the vitality and resourcefulness of the Balti mountain people, and how remarkably skilled the people are to survive and live in the harshest of conditions. In 1996, Hoerni established Central Asia Institute, and appointed Mortenson as the director. Tragically, Hoerni died a year later from leukemia. The initial Board of Directors decided to first focus our efforts on one geographic region, Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains, to gain expertise facilitating community-based projects.

The tribal communities of northern Pakistan taught Mortenson a critical lesson in our first five years of existence: sustainable and successful development can only occur when projects are entirely initiated, implemented and managed by local communities. It is also important to listen and learn from the local communities served, rather than impose external evaluations or judgment of what is best from an outsider’s perspective. The philosophy to empower the local people through their own initiative is at the heart of all CAI programs. As of 2008, Central Asia Institute has successfully established 64 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide (or have provided) education to over 25,000 students, with a emphasis on girls’ education. A few additional projects have been in Mongolia (rural health education) and Kyrgyzstan (teacher training scholarships). Over the first decade of CAI’s evolution, our programs and projects expanded to several regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan with an emphasis on education, health issues, environment and cultural preservation.

Central Asia Institute community projects continue to focus primarily in remote, underserved regions where few organizations serve. Since 2005, CAI refined and focused its’ priority to focus mainly on rural education and literacy, especially for females. This also includes ongoing teacher training programs, to establish libraries, and provide temporary education in regions of natural disaster or crisis. CAI also continues to pioneer and promote education in regions where there a few or no education opportunities. We now put more resources into sustainable initiatives, to improve the quality of education, support teacher training, and help motivated students to achieve their education goals with higher education. We are reducing the number of new schools built and funds put into mere brick and mortar to build school buildings.

Central Asia Institute Board of Directors are all educators, have all traveled or lived in Pakistan and / or Afghanistan, and are committed to the promotion of education and literacy. CAI’s office in Bozeman, Montana is run by Jennifer Sipes, the Operations Director, who has a background in business and administration and is also a Chamber of Commerce Board Member. CAI’s Pennies For Peace (P4P) program www.penniesforpeace.org is run through a small office in Evergreen, Colorado. Our P4P program is coordinated by a Montessori teacher, Christiane Leitinger. P4P has been in hundreds of schools in all fifty states over the last decade. P4P emphasizes philanthropy, cross-cultural education, geography, and to learn about the importance of diverse cultures, faiths, languages and customs. The #1 New York Times best-seller, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission To Promote Peace…One School At A Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Viking / Penguin), provides a biographical background on CAI and Greg Mortenson. www.threecupsoftea.com. An Italian version, ‘Tre Tazze Di T è’ was released by Nuovi Mondi in 2006 www.tretazzedite.it.