The following was received from our resident Zoomie, Dave "Wrongway" Conway, USAFA '80:

To All B-1ers:

It was a great weekend in Santa Fe.  While there, I approached the group about supporting a project Linda and I have started concerning schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The response was absolutely outstanding.  For those of you who weren't there, I'll give a little back ground.  For those of you who were there, I'll give you the info you requested when we all discussed this on Saturday evening.  Lest you get lost in the details, here's the summary:  Linda and I are working with the Central Asia Institute (think Greg Mortenson) to raise money for CAI's efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  We're also supporting the troops in Afghanistan, through Otto, who are rebuilding schools in selected villages.  We're asking you to join our efforts, which directly support Otto and the troops.

Now, here are the details....  During this past Spring I asked Otto what Linda and I could do to help him out.  He replied that working with a charity to build and establish a school would help to win the hearts and minds of the population in Aghanistan.  So, that's what we're doing.  Linda and I have intiatied contact with the Central Asia Institute (CAI) to raise funds to help build a school.  Under the guidance of Greg Mortenson, co-founder, CAI has set up 78 schools and provided education to over 28000 students, with emphasis on educating girls.  The schools have been set up in remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.  For $50,000 CAI can build a school and operate it for a couple years.  For more info go to https://www.ikat.org/. Mr. Mortenson's background and successes are detailed in his book Three Cups of Tea.  One of the programs under CAI is Pennies for Peace, a grass roots approach to muster support for CAI's efforts to build schools.   We've checked with the IRS; CAI is listed in IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations described in Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which provides a list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.

This seemed a good path to take.  So, we initiated three Pennies for Peace projects with local Colorado Springs schools and raised over $1,000 (we'll do more in the fall).  This was all part of the effort to wins the hearts and minds of the population in South Asia.  Apparently, many others have also recognized the wisdom in pursuing education in South Asia.  Linda and I recently had the chance to chat proviately with Mr. Mortenson in Denver.  He mentioned his recent visit to USMA, as well as his visits to the AFA.  At that time he was preparing to visit Fort Carson to speak to some of the deploying soldiers.  My personal discussion with him, as well as his address to a crowd of several thousand, made clear his close working relationship with the military.  He referenced recent meetings with Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen , and General Petraeus.  He publicly stated he felt the DoD was well out in front of the State Department as well as the policiticians.  He mentioned several times the Army's good and effective work with the local poplulation and their effort to establish relationships.   Many of the commanders in Afghanistan have made Three Cups of Tea required reading for the troops.

Okay, that's one prong of this effort.  The other prong is in direct support of Otto.  The Army has rebuilt several schools in Afghanistan.  Otto provided some story boards (I have attached one of the story boards), which I shared with everyone in Santa Fe.  Now, the schools rebuilt by the Army need supplies.  That's where our focus in now.  Here's an excerpt from an email from Otto (I bolded the email so you can distinguish Otto's email from mine):

From: Oettinger, Paul COL USA USA RC-S Expansion
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 8:25 PM
To: conwaydv@comcast.net
Cc: paul.tanghe@us.army.mil; HTFBJ@aol.com
Subject: RE: Schools in Afghanistan (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Dave,
Thanks for your update I really, really appreciate all that you are doing.  The article is very nice and I sincerely thank you.

I met with CPT Paul Tanghe the PRT Logistics & Civil Affairs Mentor for the Zabul Province about 3 weeks ago and he said the school is now open....  I asked him how he could accept the money so that it was traceable to a cause.  He stated it would be difficult, what he suggested instead was that if people want to make monetary donations to the school, use the money to buy school supplies instead and ship them to him..... he would make sure the kids got them.  He said school supplies are non-existent here.  Paper, spiral note books, black and white composition notebooks, pens, pencils, chalk, chalk boards, scissors, hole punches, crayons, clay, staples and staplers, anything else you can think of that a start-up school needs.   I think you could take the $1000 go to the dollar store, buy this stuff, use some of the money for shipping costs and send it to CPT Tanghe at the address below.  Thanks for all you are doing.  I think CPT Tanghe is due to rotate soon so as fast as you can do this would be appreciated.

As I stated in my email to Otto, I'm trying to work through Fort Carson to send school supplies to Afghanistan.  Else, half our $$ would be consumed in shipping.  I've already approached one of the local Wal-Marts and they've provided some school supplies.  What I want to do is ask them to match what the B-1ers contribute (after Saturday night I already have $200 collected).  We can do some great stuff if we all contribute something.  What I ask you to consider is at least $100 each.  Linda and I will account for every penny.  She's developed a wiki to post all the information.  We'll provide everyone with access to the wiki so each of you can post stuff, as well as keep informed of the latest development.  We'll send that info out tomorrow since I'm running out of energy tonight.

So, for those who desire to contribute to the school supplies for the schools the Army has rebuilt, please send checks to me:

David Conway
2907 Wild Cherry Lane
Colorado Springs, CO  80920
719-964-6981

I thought about opening a separate account, but I didn't want to make this any more complex.  If you would prefer to contribute to CAI, send any contributions to:

Central Asia Institute
P.O. Box 7209
Bozeman, MT  59771-7209

Our fundraiser code in 0516.  All contributors who would like their contribution to be included in your Pennies for Peace community drive need to include this on their checks or with their donation.  If a donation is made online, this code needs to be added in the last name box of the “In Honor of” Section.  Please make checks payable to the Central Asia Institute and mail them directly to this address with the 0516 Fundraiser code.

There is more, but this is enough for now.  Please contact me if any of you have questions.  In the meantime, I'll forward more of Otto's emails, along with pictures, in the coming days.  And, if you get the chance, I recommend reading Three Cups of Tea. 

v/r

David