Last fall, Greg Mortenson was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, which was ultimately awarded to President Barack Obama.This week President Obama announced that he has decided to donate $100,000 of the $1.4 million Peace Prize money to the Central Asia Institute, the organization founded by Greg Mortenson for the purpose of building schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. To date, the organization has built over 180 schools serving mostly girls.
President Obama split the prize money among ten charities, including $250,000 to Fisher House, an organization that provides housing for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers, and $200,000 to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund.
Greg Mortenson addressed The Richmond Forum in January and we applaud President Obama's decision to include his organization among the worthy groups sharing the prize money.
3 comments:
Useful forum. Great updates.
Everything Obama learned about diplomacy he learned in kindergarten and it is us, the Americans who are paying for him not learing good lessons in the childhood. Hope his putting America on the path of "set a good example and others will follow" philosphy works!
Cynthia Beattie Mcgill
Cynthia - The first half of your commentary is rather cynical in the face of a positive gesture from your president!
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