MORTENSON Greg

Biography:

Born and raised in rural Tanzania, where his missionary father set up a training hospital and his mother an international school, he lived in the USA as a teenager. A nurse and mountaineer, he nearly died of exhaustion and starvation on the way down from K2 peak in the Himalayas in 1993, after helping to save the life of one of the team members. He was so compassionately cared for by the villagers who took him in that he decided to offer in return to build the village's first school, even though he himself was penniless. This first step led to the creation, with the passionate support of a wealthy Swiss engineer in the USA, Jean Hoerni, of the Central Asian Institute in the mid-1990s. Through this NGO, Greg Mortenson has built over 60 schools in the Baltistan and Waziristan regions of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, with the systematic help of local villagers. He has learned to speak many of the local languages, including Balti, Urdu and Pashto. The aid provided also included the construction of practicable access roads to these isolated villages and vocational training centers for both men and women. Its philosophy is as follows: - education and literacy for girls is the most important investment a country can make to ensure stability, health and hygiene, birth control, economic well-being and, above all, peace. - fighting terrorism only perpetuates violence - the financial priority of governments in guaranteeing security should be to promote peace through education, literacy and respectful behavior towards these populations, with particular emphasis on girls' education. Genuine acceptance by local communities has been the foundation ofMortenson's success: villagers have donated land, wood and resources, willingly participated in the construction and helped it to meet and gain the acceptance of the Taliban and other groups initially opposed to girls' education. Awards received in connection with peace and education : - 2009 Sitara-e-Pakistan (The Star Of Pakistan Award) announced by the Government of Pakistan in August 2008. - 2009 Academy of Achievement Award - 2008 Citizen Center for Diplomacy - National Award for Citizen Diplomacy - 2008 Courage of Conscience Award - 2008 Graven Award - Wartburg College, IA - 2008 National Award for Citizen Diplomacy - Citizen Center for Diplomacy - 2007 Rotary International - Paul Harris Award - 2007 Mountain Institute - Award for Excellence in Mountain Communities - 2007 The Dayton Literary Peace Prize - 2006 Golden Fleur-de-lis Award from Comune Firenze , Italy - 2005 Men's Journal 'Anti-Terror' Award by Senator John McCain - 2005 Red Cross "Humanitarian of The Year" Montana - 2004 Freedom Forum Free Spirit Award - National Press Club - 2004 Jeanette Rankin Peace Award - Institute for Peace - 2003 Peacemaker of the Year Benedictine Monks, Santa Fe , NM - 2003 Outdoor Person of the Year - Outdoor Magazine - 2003 Salzburg Seminar fellow, sponsored by Microsoft - 2003 Climbing Magazine Golden Piton Award for humanitarian effort - 2003 Vincent Lombardi Champion Award for humanitarian service - 2002 Peacemaker Award from Montana Community Mediation Center