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          AMERICA STRIKES BACK WITH PENCILS, NOT MISSILES            
          

          Dateline: December 11, 2001 ... Bozeman, MT
          Contact Name: Greg Mortenson, Central Asia Institute
          Contact Phone: 406-585-7841
          Web Address: http://www.ikat.org


BOZEMAN, MT  - December  11, 2001  - Educating  girls in  Pakistan and 
Afghanistan could be the ideal, long-term solution to terrorism.  One 
of a few  Americans  who  has  worked  for  nine  years  in  Pakistan 
and Afghanistan is Greg Mortenson, founder of Central Asia Institute.

Through  years  of building  relationships  one community  at  a time, 
Mortenson has gained  the confidence and  respect of Army  commanders, 
Islamic clerics,  Pakistani authorities,  village chiefs  and even the 
Taliban in conservative Islamic  regions with little outside  support. 
"The American 30 minute power lunch and two minute football drill  are 
not cool here", says Mortenson. "It takes several years over  hundreds 
of cups of tea to be trusted here".

Community based education programs  started by Central Asia  Institute 
are located in  northern Pakistan and  Afghanistan. These are  some of 
the most inhospitable, remote regions in the world, where the literacy 
rate is  often less  than 5%  and infant  mortality soars  (one out of 
three children born dies before age one).

Mortenson's education programs have  thrived in the face  of adversity 
where others have failed because he has taken the time needed to build 
effective  relationships.  He  sees what  many Americans  do not  see 
- children desiring to learn who, otherwise, have no future.

Fighting terrorism with  pencils could be  a viable solution  to an on 
going problem.  If the children in Pakistan and Afghanistan are  left 
stranded  without  quality leadership  and  the knowledge  to  build a 
better future, terrorism will rise again and again.

Mortenson sees a population that  equates the Taliban with misery.  "I 
would say that 95 percent of  the people in Afghanistan would like  to 
get rid of the Taliban and especially of Osama bin Laden."

Mortenson states, "If we could have the $1 million for the purchase of 
one Tomahawk cruise missile dropped  on the Taliban (already over  400 
have been fired into  Afghanistan) converted to education  assistance, 
we could strike a serious blow on terrorism."

Twenty-two  schools  have  been established  in  northern  Pakistan by 
Central Asia Institute. Sixty-four proposals for girls schools hang in 
the  balance and  a new  wave of  requests from  Afghanistan.  "Girls 
education is a mighty sword in the war on terrorism", says Mortenson.

Central  Asia Institute  is a  USA 501(c)3  nonprofit organization  to
promote education and women's vocational training in remote regions of
Central Asia.  For more information, contact Greg Mortenson at Central
Asia Institute,  617  South   5th Avenue,  Bozeman, MT   59715 or call
toll  free  (877) 585-7841.  You  can also  visit  their web  site  at
http://www.ikat.org