Journey Of Hope - Fall 2018 Journey of Hope 2018 | Page 9

As World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva
makes clear, “We cannot keep letting gender
inequality get in the way of global progress.
Inequality in education is yet another fix-
able issue that is costing the world trillions.
It is time to close the gender gap in educa-
tion and give girls and boys an equal chance
to succeed, for the good of everyone.”
CAI may have a smaller reach than, say,
a shift in national policy, but we focus pre-
cisely where it matters most: on the lives
of girls and women in the remotest areas
who want — and deserve — an education.
These women stand on freshly empowered
ground, bringing positive change that flows
outward to create greater effects for good.
Thanks to CAI, they have the opportunity for
education. While other education programs
are shutting down in these remote and dan-
gerous mountains, CAI remains committed
to its mission, despite the challenges.
THE DIFFERENCE WE MAKE
By funding and facilitating the education
of women and girls in need, CAI helps:
• Decrease women’s risk of illness and
early death, especially in childbirth.
• Increase women’s prosperity and stan-
dard of living; completing secondary
school can increase women’s earnings
worldwide by $15 trillion to $30 trillion.
• Eliminate child marriage, and decrease the
rate of early childbearing by 75 percent.
• Decrease global overpopulation, as uni-
versal education for girls can reduce
population growth by .3 percent and
generate $3 trillion in economic benefits
each year.
Without support like this the future is
bleak for many communities in Central
Asia, especially in Afghanistan.
“Keeping these schools are essential,”
said the principal of Badinzai Girls’ Middle
School in Nangarhar, Afghanistan. “If not
FALL 2018
kept they will definitely turn into the ISIS
shelters or training centers, whereby our
children are likely to receive trainings for
attacks against government and schools
instead of receiving education.”
For people fighting militancy every day,
education is their best hope.
Last year, our Pennies for Peace program
taught the importance of generosity,
philanthropy, and the power of education in
431 U.S. classrooms, and 38 international
schools, raising 4,526,565 pennies for
Central Asian school buildings and school
supplies. We completed 54 construction
projects, from digging wells to building
restrooms and boundary walls for rural,
remote schools, benefiting over 2,500
children and adults.
WHY WE GIVE
The numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Every scholarship is a life changed for the
better. Every teacher trained is a woman
fulfilling her dream, who will inspire and
mentor the next generation of young wom-
en. And every safe, fully completed school
will be a launchpad, a place of promise, and
a safety net for girls who might have oth-
erwise become child brides. It also sends
a message from that community to those
who spread intolerance that they care about
the future of their children; that these par-
ents have hope and faith in their children
to change things for the better. The impor-
tance of supporting women’s education and
empowerment in these developing nations
is difficult to sum up with statistics and data
— it’s an undertaking of the ages, carrying
the torch of freedom to those in need.
The reasons for giving are bigger than
convenience or tax breaks. We give our
time as board members and our checks
because we care about the individuals,
the communities, and the nations of the
developing world and believe that education
is a critical tool for improving lives. In
the past year, international donations for
charities from the U.S. have drastically
dropped, yet the supporters of CAI have
continued to fund our critical work. With
a scholarship to help a young woman stay
in school costing an average of just $960
a year, every donated dollar counts.
In a rapidly changing world, the em-
powerment and education of the girls and
women are of ever-greater importance. Your
support for our work can change the course
of the future — not just for individuals, but
in this smaller and smaller world, for us all.
We are proud to help lead CAI. l
Ambassador (retired)
Christina Rocca
served as Permanent
Representative of the
United States of America
to the Conference on
Disarmament in Geneva,
Switzerland; as head
of delegation to the
Biological Weapons
Convention Review Conference; and as head of
delegation to United Nation General Assembly
First Committee sessions on armament issues.
Amb. Rocca served as Assistant Secretary of State
for South and Central Asian Affairs. She has been
a member of CAI’s Board of Directors since 2018.
Mark Ward retired
from the U.S. foreign
service a year ago. His
last assignment was to
co-chair a Task Force in
Geneva with Russia to
improve humanitarian
access to Syrian
communities besieged
by the government. He
joined the Foreign Service in 1986 and served
in Turkey, on the Syrian border, Pakistan twice,
Egypt, the Philippines, and Russia. Mr. Ward
was also the Special Advisor on Development
to the head of the United Nations Mission in
Afghanistan, and later to the head of the United
Nations Mission in Libya. He has been a member
of CAI's Board of Directors since 2017.
JOURNEY OF HOPE | 7